the white princess and the red knight
by TalkingToTulips
Summary: In the midst of the cousins' war that divided England for decades, a disgraced Lancastrian Duchess named Caroline and a cocky Yorkist Knight called Niklaus have their worlds turned upside down as they play their roles as the pawns in an almighty chess game that will entwine their fates. There will be loss, there will be blood and there will be love, but all will come in good time…
1. Part 1

**Okay, so this one shot has basically taken over my life for the last week as I've written and written. It was intended to originally be 5,000 words but now it stands at 18,000 words and has been split into two parts. The first is posted today, and the second on Wednesday. I've always loved the cousins' war in history and when I finally got The White Queen on DVD, I wanted to write a one shot in that sort of takes the light away from the Kings and the Queens of the York and Lancaster courts and onto some drama of the Klaroline kind. It's not completely historically accurate, but I did my best and I slaved over the dates and the customs of court (I drove my beta up the wall with this). **

**There's a playlist and a GIF set on my tumblr, and I hope you'll leave a review and tell me whether you liked it! **

**Full Summary: In the midst of the cousins' war that divided England for decades, a disgraced Lancastrian Duchess named Caroline and a cocky Yorkist Knight called Niklaus have their worlds turned upside down as they play their roles as the pawns in an almighty chess game that will entwine their fates. There will be loss, there will be blood and there will be love, but all will come in good time…**

* * *

**_I'm bleeding out, so if the last thing that I do  
Is bring you down  
I'll bleed out for you_**

**_Bleeding Out - Imagine Dragons_**

* * *

_April, 1462 – London, England; The Court of King Edward IV _

Klaus remembers the days before the war when everything was beautiful, and roses were just a pretty flower that his mother planted in the garden to sweeten the air. Back then, roses were just roses and they bore no political significance. It made no difference that the Lady Esther planted white roses for her York blood and when the Duke of Beaufort and his family came to visit, they presented the matriarch with red roses- The colour and sigil of the Lancaster house. It was just a gesture of tradition to show unity between the two houses, a unity that would not last.

Klaus remembers lining up with his brothers and Rebekah to await the arrival of the carriage, only 19 years old and a young knight under his brother's tutelage. He remembers Rebekah running about their estate looking for maids to plait her hair so she would be pretty for the Duke, the Duchess and their daughter. The Mikaelsons were a respectable, well educated, well-kept family but they did not always entertain royalty.

Klaus remembers how his mother had sat with Rebekah in her lap to plait her hair and explained that the Duchess Elizabeth of Beaufort was a princess from Holland, and had married into the Lancaster family long ago by marrying a cousin of the Lancastrian King to secure their family's unity. Esther explained that that made their daughter Caroline heir to the title of Duchess, and distantly in line for the English, Spanish and Dutch thrones, not that she would see a crown on the hair on her head in her life. Rebekah took this to mean that a princess would be gracing their estate and went into a frenzy.

Klaus remembers looking upon this long discussed heir for the first time and how the world seemed to stop at once. Caroline was absolutely beautiful, a young woman worthy of the name princess in Klaus' eyes. She was only 17 years old as she stepped from the carriage, helped by her father and instantly began over to Esther to press a kiss to the Lady's cheek. He remembers how she curtsied low to the men of the Mikaelson household and blushed bright red when his father kissed the back of her hand.

He remembers the conversation they had in the gardens as she bent down to smell the white roses, it was the middle of spring so the garden was lousy with flowers. "They tell me that you are a princess." Klaus remembers telling her as she sat on a stone bench and fingered a nearby rose's petal with a smile, blushing bright red. "Is it not true? Are you not going to be Queen Caroline of Holland and England, and rule over empires?" He had asked her curiously.

And above all, he remembers her response, clear as a bell. "I was born to be Duchess of Beaufort, not a princess. I am smart enough to know that royalty is not the place a woman wants to be. My mother always told me as much. Beaufort is my home, and I have no intentions of leaving it to be a prince's wife and play mothers with all the other ladies of court." Her voice, to this day was the most alluring sound he'd ever heard.

That was before the war, when everything was beautiful and roses were only flowers.

During the next five years, the Lancaster and York houses became cousins at war and everyone was forced to pick a side. Mikael sided with Richard, Duke of York and followed him into battle many times, and expected his sons to do the same. Klaus did not question his father's political affiliation, he was young and foolish. He saw this war as a joke, a sham, a fight between a beefed up Duke and a mad King. A fight that he and his three brothers would fight with a white rose pinned to their chests proudly. Would Richard make a good king? Klaus did not know and he frankly did not care. The promise of battle was enough to get his support.

Klaus could not explain the battlefield to a man who had never seen it. There was no glory within the dead bodies that littered the grass, the stench, and the sweat. Klaus knew that was a lie that the women made up to make themselves feel better about the hell they had sent their husbands and sons off to. He loved the battle well enough, but it was nothing less than Hell on Earth. His father, who always treated Klaus the worst of his children, once told him that he would feel at home on a battlefield. Klaus was used to be beat down in his childhood, but this was a chance to fight back, and fight back he did. Klaus could not count the lives he took.

Klaus began to thirst for the battle and the blood, but sometimes, such as when the House of York was triumphant at Northampton and they captured the mad King Henry, Klaus would look about at the devastation, the bodies being burnt and the injured men and ask himself whether it was all worth it.

Mikael told his sons before each battle that they would be rewarded greatly for their bravery with good wives, titles, women lining up to be their mistresses, wealth and lands. That they would be welcomed to the court of King Richard as heroes and everything would be beautiful again like it had been before. It was little consolation when there never seemed to be an end to the war or Mikael's thirst for power, a hunger only rivalled with Klaus' lust for blood and death it seemed. Mikael would not die a lowly Knight when there were titles a plenty to be won when King Richard looked back at the supporters that had stood by him all these years.

Their vision of a better life in the court of King Richard was an illusion that was briefly lay shattered beside Mikael and his sons when Richard of York fell at the Battle of Wakefield, even though their armies had outnumbered the Lancastrian forces greatly and they had been enclosed in the safety of Sandal Castle. Klaus briefly wondered whether they would fall as Yorkists or whether their father would run to kiss the feet of King Henry and his French Queen. But then, lo and behold, an angel by the name of Edward surged forward to take the throne and the Mikaelsons were there every step of the way.

A year after Edward was declared King, Klaus arrived back in London by summons of the King. His brothers were already present at court, Klaus had ridden home to see his sister and mother after the success of Edward had become official, and stayed there. He had never seen his sister run as fast as she had into his arms the day that he returned to their estate, Klaus thought as he rode into the palace gates ahead of his belongings.

His older brother was waiting for him at the top of the steps as Klaus dismounted his horse and began up the steps to meet him. "Elijah." Klaus greeted as he clapped a hand onto his brother's shoulders. "I did not expect you to be out of bed so early after your marriage to the Lady Katherine. I thought after so long at war we would not see you again until Christmas and Father was certain that you had made him a grandfather." He commented wryly as they began into the halls like old friends.

Klaus tried to keep his envy of his brother for having been allowed to choose his wife after his triumphs on the battlefield out of his voice. Elijah had married a Lady Katherine, who he had admired for many years before the war, and given that she was of York blood and a strong family, Mikael gave him blessing to his second eldest. Niklaus would have to marry whatever woman Mikael put in front of him and threaten to beat him or disown him if he did not. Right now, Mikael lusted for more power. And power could be obtained through two practices: Battles and Marriages.

"Well, you are inaccurate twice in that statement because here I stand, we are not all ruled by our trousers, Niklaus." Elijah told his brother in a reprimand, gesturing to himself. Klaus grimaced at his backhanded comment. "And secondly, I am not married to the Lady Katherine, she is no longer simply a Lady. I imagine that our father would have wanted to tell you this himself but I am sure you can act honoured and surprised when he does." His brother told him, bringing them both to a halt in the hallway and pulling Klaus to the side so they would not get in the way of passing nobility and courtiers. Klaus raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Do not stand on ceremony then, Elijah."

"For our family's service on the battlefield, The King has granted each of our family a title. Our father has been made Earl of Suffolk which he is most pleased with, Finn has been made Earl of Lincoln, Kol has been made Marquis of Dorset and I have been made the Duke of Norfolk." Elijah explained discreetly, though Klaus could not see why he was so quiet. This is what the family had been waiting six long years for. They had put off marriage and children and risked death on the battlefield for the chance to be called Duke or Earl.

"And I have been left out of the celebrations? Even after I saved Edward's skin many a time at Wakefield. What a pity, I shall have to strike him from my list of favourite people." Klaus put his hand on his chest to show his faux hurt. Elijah chuckled and clapped a hand onto his brother's shoulder. Klaus grinned at their brotherly play, having missed this in his years at war, conversation on the battlefield left much to be desired. Even this conversation with Elijah seemed one of the best he'd had in years.

"Do not pout, little brother. The King has not forgotten that you saved his life, Niklaus. He is conferring onto you the title of Duke of Beaufort." Elijah told him. Klaus' blood ran cold and the grin dropped from his face though he thought to keep it at a smile. He knew that title well enough.

"But that is the title of the Forbes family." He told his brother lowly. Elijah looked confused for a second, but then remembered the 'princess' that had graced their estate for a few months before the war had begun for the brothers. Klaus didn't blame him for not remembering, Klaus struggled to remember a time when he did not sleep with a dagger under his pillow or a sword by his side but he would never forget Caroline, the Duchess of Beaufort. Or former.

"The former Duke fell at Wakefield, so The King stripped Lady Elizabeth and her daughter of their title as he has done with all those who supported Lancaster. It is simply the way these things go. The Lady Elizabeth now takes the title Dowager Princess of Holland and hopes that title in itself will secure her daughter a marriage amongst the King's new favourites to gain his favour again." Elijah explained, letting his hand drop back to his side as Klaus stared into space. He felt strange. He had not seen this girl for years but he could feel her pain at losing her birth right from this spot in London. But he didn't for a second let it show on his face. "Unless, of course, Caroline plans to raise an army and make use of her weak claim to the throne. His Majesty would have much to say to that." He added in jest.

Klaus made a point of smirking at his brother's joke and tried to push the thought of Caroline from his mind. Wherever she was, she was not thinking of him.

* * *

_June, 1462 – Yorkshire, England_

Caroline smoothed down her dress and tried to sort out her long blonde hair, her hands trembling as she did so. When she had imagined her wedding day as a girl, it had not been like this. Her father had always told her that he would find her someone brave and noble who would care for her and the streets of Beaufort would be full of people dancing and cheering for the marriage of their future Duchess. She sighed heavily at her lost dream and her lost father. What had become of her now? She was to be married to Count Salvatore's oldest son in a seemly chapel, only her, her husband, her mother and her father in law present to see the priest join them as man and wife.

No, she wasn't going to cry. Crying was for the weak and the winners, she told herself. She didn't have the luxury of being either. Caroline had to be strong, she had to go through with this marriage to secure her and her mother some safety, a house to stay in when the new Duke of Beaufort came to claim their estate as his own. She imagined that the Yorkist pretender would beat her half to death if she wasn't gone when he arrived. Now she would live at court as a Yorkist Countess, wait for the King to marry and a Queen to wait on and gain back the King's favour. She would not fail.

The blonde began to tie her sash but her hands were so shaky that she couldn't get the satin tied around her waist. Another set of hands came to take the fabric and Caroline began to turn in her space, but was tugged back to face front. "Stand still," her mother reprimanded as she tied the sash and took a white rose from the side. The sight of white roses made Caroline ill. She was a Lancastrian Duchess, she had worn red roses all her life. Elizabeth placed the rose in her daughter's hair and Caroline felt like a prized whore dolled up to be sent as the spoils of war. She wouldn't dress this up as a real marriage in her mind, declaring her long living loyalty and adoration for a husband she had never met was hard enough to say aloud. "You look beautiful." Elizabeth sighed sadly.

"Thank you, mama." Caroline sighed heavily. "Are you sure we cannot go to Holland and stay with Grandfather Wilhelm?" She asked in a last ditch attempt.

"I would not survive the journey, Caroline. You know my health is a fickle mistress." Elizabeth assured her softly as her daughter turned to face her mother. Elizabeth had been suffering with bouts of illness for the last few years after miscarrying early in a pregnancy. She had tried to give Caroline's father a son for many years, and had miscarried 5 times. Twice before she had Caroline and three times afterwards. Her husband's death had closed the matter but her body was still weak from its constant trauma. "We are Forbes, and we must make do, and be strong." Elizabeth commented softly, taking her daughter's hands.

Easy for her to say, Caroline thought bitterly, she wasn't being sold off to a known tyrant, famed for his gambling, backstabbing and womanising. Her mother wasn't the one who was being whored out to pay for her mother's household because she was banished from court. Her mother wasn't the one who would probably be the source of gossip, taunts and threats the moment she stepped into the court of King Edward. And her mother wasn't the one who was going to have to watch herself before she took a breath or step for the rest of her life. It was all Caroline, she was the one who was going to be strong, and she was the one who was going to make do.

"My Ladies, the Count is ready for you now." The maid didn't even knock before intruding. Caroline remembered a time where a servant wouldn't dare look at her and her family without permission and ducked her head. Elizabeth's soft fingertips scooped her chin up to catch her gaze and she squeezed the hand she was still holding. Caroline put on the smile she'd been practicing for the last three days, her court smile, her fake smile, the smile she would wear all her life and Elizabeth smiled back.

"Best not keep him waiting." Caroline breathed.

* * *

_July, 1462 - London, England; The Court of King Edward IV_

"The Salvatores are coming to court tonight," Mikael announced to his family one evening, almost casually but they could all sense his plotting undertone. Kol and Klaus exchanged glances as the family ate. It was a tradition now apparently that the Mikaelson family and their spouses eat together every Sunday after church, even though this had never been the case before. Klaus could count on one hand the amount of times he'd eaten Sunday dinner with his father. He took another gulp of ale and placed the goblet down. "Their younger son is still unmarried."

"I was not aware that the elder son was." Elijah interjected, Katherine sat beside him like a timid mouse. She was by no means shy or quiet but when she was around Mikael, she did not speak a word unless spoken to.

"Damon was married this past month to Lady Elizabeth's daughter, Caroline. He and his new wife are being presented before court. I have it on good authority that when the King marries, she will be a lady in the Queen's household. A position that Rebekah failed to secure for herself." He spoke bitterly, directing his obvious venom at his only daughter. Rebekah ducked her own head from where she sat next to Klaus and took another sip of wine.

The older sibling put his hand on her arm for just a second to comfort her, and she smiled into her glass secretly as Mikael continued to talk about the positions of power their family could have secured through Rebekah becoming an attendant to the currently absent Queen. Klaus stared into his plate as his mind whirled. Caroline was married to that bastard of a Count, who gambled away his father's money, whored without abandon and shared in the glory of York's victories when he had barely seen the battlefield itself. The thought made him sick as he continued to drink down his ale and tuned out what Mikael was saying.

Until he mentioned the Salvatores again.

"I intend to propose a marriage between Rebekah and Stefan." The whole table reacted in their own way. Esther bit her lip, Rebekah's eyes went wide, Elijah looked stoic, Katherine said nothing, Finn ducked his head, Kol's fist clenched on his thigh out of his father's eye, Henrik looked confused at the reactions around the table and Klaus turned his head to his father with a poisonous glare. His baby sister married into that sham of a family? He wouldn't allow it.

"I would rather you married her to that devil child of King Henry's." Klaus hissed.

"I will marry my daughter to whomever I see fit, Niklaus. The same way I will marry you, Finn, Kol or Henrik to any woman or girl I decide for you, and there is nothing that any of you can do about it, I am your father and you will obey my orders." Mikael returned. Klaus finished off his ale during his father's speech, slammed the cup down and began up from the table. Rebekah looked pleased that he had spoken up for her, but also worried about the repercussions for her big brother. "If you leave this table, Niklaus-"

"Will you send me to my room?" Klaus barked sarcastically as he turned around where he'd been intending to stalk from the room. "Because if you were to banish me to Beaufort, then I would be pleased just to have a mile between us, Father. But I will be taking Rebekah with me, and you'll have to find your power elsewhere. My sister will not be marrying into a family of gamblers, drunks and cowards that would cast her off the moment they no longer had any use for her. I have more respect for her than to see her whored off." He insisted angrily, before leaving.

Mikael shouted after him but it fell on deaf ears. Klaus stalked through the halls of the castle to try and find his way to the court yard for some fresh air. He knew he would pay for his insolence but right now, he was so angry that he did not care. The Duke pushed open the door to the stable yard where guest arrived to see a carriage he did not recognise pulling up. It bore the crest of the Salvatore family. Klaus laughed bitterly, God clearly meant to spite him tonight as he leaned against one of the stone pillars at the top of the steps.

The door to the carriage opened and out came Giuseppe Salvatore with his walking stick and fur coat. It was a cold night, no doubt; Klaus was beginning to feel the chill himself. Damon Salvatore stepped out next, beginning up the steps and passing Klaus without a glance, clearly in a hurry and a mood. Klaus popped his eyebrows at the Salvatore son's behaviour and turned his attention back to the procession. Stefan Salvatore rode in the gates on his horse and dismounted before following his brother. He gave Klaus a curt nod of recognition but that was it.

"Out you come, Countess." Giuseppe announced, offering his hand to the still hidden away Countess that sat in the carriage. Klaus shifted, moving to lean against the stone wall that covered the top of the steps as he waited with baited breath for his first glimpse of Caroline after all these years. It had been…six? Five? Klaus thought to himself as a spindly hand came out and clasped the older man's as she began to pull herself from the carriage though Salvatore clearly had some troubles with remaining steady. "I'm sorry that my sons rushed off, they are so eager to meet the King." Count Salvatore apologised as Klaus began down the steps.

"It's not a trouble, Count Salvatore." Caroline's voice was the exact same that it had been years before to Klaus' ear. She emerged from the carriage and looked up at the castle, Klaus nearly stopped in his movements in shock. If she had been beautiful at 17, Caroline was now a goddess in his eyes. Her long blonde hair was still in curls around her face, her bright expressive eyes and her soft cheekbones, her soft alluring lips, her curves and her smile all created a picture that no artist could ever do justice. "The palace is absolutely beautiful." She smiled at her father in law.

"It is, indeed, Countess." The Count replied as he helped her out the carriage and closed the door behind her. Caroline wore a dress of grey damask and a fur lined travelling cloak to keep her warm against the winter chill. "I'm afraid I may have to follow my son's poor behaviour and leave you to find your way by yourself, Countess, I am to meet with the Earl of Suffolk this evening."

That's when Klaus cut in. "Count Salvatore, my father said you were joining us at court." He greeted as if he hadn't been lurking for the last five minutes. Caroline jumped in surprise at his loud voice disrupting the cold night and turned to face the newcomer. When she saw him, her eyes went wide as coins and she stammered once before curtsying as she had all those years ago. The Count didn't react except to grin at the younger man and clap a hand onto his shoulder like they were old friends. "I would be more than happy to help the Countess find her way to her rooms, we wouldn't want to keep my father waiting after all." He proposed.

"What a splendid plan." Salvatore replied heartily before turning to his stunned daughter in law who had risen in the last few moments. "Countess, this is Klaus Mikaelson, the Duke of Beaufort." He announced grandly, obviously oblivious to her loss of that same title. Caroline met Klaus' eyes, and if they had been like coins before, they were the size of plates now. She corrected herself after a few seconds and her face became stone. Klaus smirked and took her hand from her side. "Your Grace, this is my new daughter in law, Countess Caroline Salvatore."

"We've met." Caroline commented tersely between gritted teeth as Klaus kissed the back of her hand. He noted the white rose she had pinned to her dress and smirked. "My Lord, I'm afraid that the Duke does not know the way to our rooms and I shall find myself lost." She complained.

"I am sure that we can find our way, Countess." Klaus countered.

"The Duke does know the castle better than we do, my dear. Now I must be off, or I shall incur your father's wrath." Giuseppe Salvatore chuckled before beginning up the steps slowly with his hurt hip and old legs. The moment he was in the castle, Caroline snatched her hand back and leaned into the carriage to take out her silk purse and begin to her footmen to instruct them. Klaus smirked and followed her as she directed her servants, who seemed disinterested in her instructions.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father." Klaus told her.

"Do not talk to me about my father." Caroline snapped between gritted teeth, rearranging her cloak and beginning up towards the steps. Caroline went up two steps before stopping. She then swivelled around to face him, still glaring. "My father was a great man, and he fell honourably in a battle where you fought against him then took the title that was rightfully his and rightfully _mine_. I should be the Duchess of Beaufort, it has been my family's right for generations. Do not pretend to pity me. And I do not need you to walk to my rooms." She reprimanded him.

"I did not choose to take this title, princess." Klaus replied.

Caroline bristled at the nickname he'd given her during their week together before the war. "Do not call me that, do you want my head on the chopping block?" She hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard and beginning back down the steps to go toe to toe with Klaus. He smirked and absentmindedly pushed some hair from her face. She moved from his touch and glared once more at him. "I am not a princess, calling me so will only evoke suspicion in both yourself and me. I came here to win the King's favour, not make myself a political target!"

"Actually, you are a princess. Three times over. Your mother is a princess of Holland, albeit the youngest so not much claim there but a title all the same. Your father is the cousin of King so you have royal Lancaster blood in you, a princess' claim. And your maternal grandmother was Princess of Spain before her marriage to your grandfather, the King of Holland. So I see no reason not to call you Princess and beside, you shall always be a Princess to me." Klaus smirked triumphantly. Caroline faltered and ducked her head. "Except now you are a whore's Countess. And the King will keep you here for the rest of your life, to keep an eye on you." Klaus told her in a matter of fact.

"As long as I have my head, I will do what is necessary. I will be a pinnacle of class and a godly spectacle of loyalty to my husband, his family and my King."

"Then you will not mind my walking you to your rooms, as only a woman of class would." Klaus countered, offering his arm to the Countess wryly. Caroline stared at him for a second before sighing heavily and taking his arm. He began to lead her up the steps and into the castle, asking a passing servant where the Salvatores would be staying during their visit to court. The maid was only too happy to help and directed them to some apartments in the East wing of the castle. He smiled seductively at the maid and continued to walk with Caroline on his arm. "How is your mother?" He asked her to break their terse silence.

"She is well. She was very happy to see me married but remained at the establishment my gracious husband has supplied for her. An old woman need not be exposed to court life, or so she said." The blonde deadpanned, gritting her teeth on the word gracious. Klaus wanted to smirk because it was obvious she was not smitten with her husband but he was also jealous that her husband had her and he did not. He was jealous of Damon Salvatore. Klaus shook his head at that thought as Caroline asked after his family and their health. He quickly replied that they were fine and his older brothers were both now married. "You are not married yourself?" She asked curiously.

"I'm sure I will have a Duchess by the time the year is out." Klaus assured her, remembering his father's earlier threat loud and clear. "Did I congratulate you on your marriage?" He asked curiously, though he wanted to do the exact opposite. The pair of them were now stood outside the door to the Salvatores' room and Caroline's hand was on the door. She shook her head, not making eye contact with him.

"There is no need. Being married is congratulations enough for me." She told him hollowly.

"I wish you a long and happy life together." Klaus lied through his teeth. If Damon Salvatore was struck down tomorrow, it wouldn't be soon enough. He did not deserve someone as smart, as wilful and as beautiful as Caroline Forbes. He would surely use her as a toy for his pleasure and, and force her into a life of submission and producing heirs for his wretched family line. Klaus knew that Caroline had always been destined for greater things than a Countess. Maybe he was only joking when he called her princess, but she was a Queen in his eyes. The Duke took her hand from her side once more and kissed the back tenderly. "Good night, Countess." He bid her goodnight.

"Good night, Lord Mikaelson." She smiled sweetly before pushing the door open and beginning inside. Klaus lingered by the door, flexed the hand that had held hers and smiled to himself before turning on his heel and beginning towards his own quarters. He was entirely unaware of his father's eyes watching the exchange, glaring after his son as he watched him go.

* * *

_August, 1464 - London, England; The Court of King Edward IV and Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville_

The years seemed to pass quickly in King Edward's court, or maybe that was just because Klaus preferred to be drunk more than sober. Everything was glorious and golden, just as Mikael had told his sons before battle. All Mikael's ambitions and dreams came true in those two years, the Mikaelson family reaped fortune where others lost it, constantly bestowed titles, lands and favour from the King as they proved their loyalty. Men lined up to marry their daughters off to a Mikaelson, soon Finn and Kol were married to an Earl's daughter named Sage and Kol to a Duchess named Mary respectively.

Mikael made good on his promise to punish Klaus for his disobedience and disrespect and had his third son married to a niece of Giuseppe Salvatore. Oh the cruel irony. Klaus had protested Rebekah marrying a Salvatore and now Mikael was grabbing for power that the Salvatores had through his son. Elena Salvatore was a timid little mouse of a thing who barely spoke a word on their wedding, save for her vows. She was a child compared to Klaus, barely 19 compared to Klaus being 25. She stuck close with her entourage of girlfriends at the feast whilst Klaus drank his way through the evening, the pair barely speaking.

She was even worse in the bedroom, a little virgin in every way. Sometimes it was enticing to bed a maiden, but Elena was like a porcelain doll; so breakable and stiff that Klaus wouldn't have found it implausible that she would snap in half like a twig. Nevertheless he closed his eyes and imagined the body underneath him was that of the Countess he had been dreaming of for weeks. He need only consummate the marriage then look to more experienced hands for his pleasures.

Even they were dull substitutes for what he really wanted. Klaus would bring woman after woman to his bed chambers at night, and each time, he would think of Caroline. She was invading his every thought and images of her undressing and lying herself on his bed for the taking flooded his dreams and fantasies as he took a chambermaid or the wife of a visiting Baron. He thought about how she looked when she came, how he would make her beg for pleasure that he would readily give to her, that her husband could never give to her.

As a consequence of his twisted fantasies, Klaus only ever bedded blondes. He didn't care for their station. If he could charm them into his bed, he would have them. Every time he thought of Caroline, how would she react to him moving in and out of her slowly or hard and fast? Would she moan loudly or hide her pleasure behind whimpers? All these thoughts raced through his head as his latest conquest moved on top of him, moaning loudly like she wanted the whole damn court to hear her. He held onto her hips to control the way she rose and fell onto his cock. Her hands were braced on his thighs as she relented her control to him.

Klaus sat up and buried his face into her sizeable chest, nipping and sucking at her nipples and the skin of her breasts. He imagined he was worshipping another, more beautiful blonde's breasts, it was so easy even though he had never seen her in that way. "Ah...there." She breathed, he groaned but not in arousal. Whenever she spoke, he was reminded that he wasn't pleasuring Caroline. The illusion was shattered, and Klaus just wanted her out of there. He gripped the blonde maid's hips and flipped her underneath his body, kissing her so deeply that she wouldn't speak again until he was done, submerging himself in fantasies about the countess.

His obsession with the countess grew more and more passionate as Klaus grew to expect her around the halls. She became a lady in waiting to the Queen after Edward was married, and was always bustling around to grant Queen Elizabeth's wishes. When she was not attending the Queen, she was a jewel of the court's social life. Klaus could spend an entire evening watching her giggle and converse in court, dance the night away, even steal her away for a dance himself if he could persuade her with the help of wine.

And it was that same Countess who approached him with a stormy look on her face as he flirted with a maid one evening, just two years after first arriving in court. "A moment, please, Sophie. I need to speak with the Duke." She smiled sweetly at the maid he had been planning to take to bed, who obeyed and began off. "First, you force that girl to marry you and then you do your whoring in front of her?" She asked him angrily, eyeing Elena who sat drinking some wine sadly. Klaus didn't react.

"That is her cross to bear. Are you jealous, princess?" He asked, arching a brow. Caroline straightened up and rolled her eyes. Klaus took another sip of the ale he had been drinking for most of the night and smirked as another thought came upon him. "You know, being a Duke, I am privy to all sorts of interesting rumours. Including the rumours that you and your husband have not yet consummated your marriage. Why else would you not be with child after two years of marriage? It seems your red rose still needs deflowering."

"You disgust me." She hissed before beginning out of the hall. Klaus smirked and followed her, dying for some time alone with her like they had had their first night. He easily caught up with her and caught her shoulder before pressing her into a wall. "Let go of me, Klaus." She spat as he put his hands on either side of her head, boxing her in.

"No, princess." He told her softly, leaning in till his fingertips brushed the column of her throat gently, like she were made of glass. "I have not stopped thinking of you since you came to court. That little girl in there they call my wife is no match for your beauty and spirit, every woman pales in comparison." Caroline looked down at him as he trailed a path from her jaw line down to the neckline of her dress. He smirked, looking up at her. He expected to see fear or disgust, but her eyes were dark and she kept his eyes locked on hers. "I cannot bear to think of another man having you."

"Another man already has me." She breathed. "I am married."

"So am I, but that has never stopped me." He quipped, moving his hand a little lower until his hand ghosted the side of her covered breast. Caroline let a sharp gasp at the feel, his thumb circling her nipple over her satin dress. Klaus cupped her breast fully and continued his ministrations, Caroline let out a little moan that made his lips form a smirk and his trousers tighten. "It does not have to stop you either." He proposed.

Smack.

Klaus felt pain radiate through his cheek as Caroline shoved at his shoulder in the aftermath of her slap and glared at him, all her lust drained from her body in seconds. "I may have lost my title to the likes of you, Mikaelson, but I am not and never will be your whore. I am the rightful Duchess of Beaufort, I am a lady and I am a married woman and you will do well to remember that before you ask me to be your mistress again." She spat before storming off.

* * *

_September, 1464, London, England; The Court of King Edward IV and Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville_

They did not speak for several weeks. She ignored him when he approached her and practically pretended that he did not exist. Klaus had other duties but had little time to worry about anything else when Caroline refused to talk to him. He continued to dream about her more vividly now that he had had the smallest taste of her. Despite this burning need inside him, Klaus did not take another mistress. If he couldn't have her then he wouldn't have any other woman.

Weeks after the incident, Klaus was leaving the stables after a hunt when he spotted Caroline and her husband walking through the gardens. Caroline wore a pink gown of silk and her travelling cloak lined with fur, her arm looped with her husband's domestically. Klaus ducked his head, not wanting to see her looking anything akin to happy with him. Damon spoke quietly with an angry expression, the blonde stared ahead and nodded every so often.

Klaus watched as the Salvatore Count turned on his wife, blocking her path and gripped her wrist in his grasp, speaking lowly to her. She finally met his eyes and spoke clearly, though Klaus could not make out what she said, nor what they were arguing about. Whatever it was, it didn't sit well with Damon whose hand came out and struck her cheek loudly. Caroline fell to the ground and clutched at her cheek as the Count began into the castle, leaving his wife in the dust with tears forming in her eyes. Klaus began over to her, suppressing the urge to follow Damon and beat him senseless.

"Let me help, princess." Klaus offered as he held out his hand. Caroline swallowed thickly, one hand still against her cheek and looked up at him with a half-hearted glare. She looked at his hand before placing her dainty hand in his. He pulled her to her feet and led her to a stone bench as she dusted off her skirts and tried to hold back tears. She did not look him in the eye as he looked at her cheek, knowing a bruise would form. "Say the word, Caroline and I will-"

"You will what?" She snapped.

"I will cut his hand from his wrist and send his head back to his father in a box." Klaus returned easily, not fazed by her mood. Caroline blinked in surprise, a tear escaping her eye and dripping down her reddening cheek, and her face became one of fear. "You look scared."

"I am scared that you may not be joking." She breathed.

"I can tell you that I am not. I have seen men die for far less, princess, and perhaps they should not have, but a man who has to raise a hand to his wife and a woman as lovely as you, should not be allowed to live." He told her firmly.

"He was angry with me, because I saw him in bed with another woman and I had the audacity to be upset by my husband sleeping with another woman when he will only sleep with me because his father wants him to produce an heir, which I seemed to be incapable of doing. I am just a ewe waiting to be topped to them." She told him with a sigh, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity and ducking her head. Klaus watched her as she wrung her hands slightly and her shoulders shook slightly with a sob. After a second of weakness, she straightened up and sniffed, shaking her head.

Klaus sighed and took her hand from her side, kissing the back softly to soothe her and rubbing circles into the skin with his thumb to try and soothe her. "Just say the word, and I would give you the world, princess. Whatever you wanted, I would give it to you." He promised her.

"The one thing I want, you have already taken from me." She breathed, before rising up and beginning away from him. He did not follow her.

* * *

She came to him two days later in tears and clutching a letter to her chest. He wanted to just hold her close and kiss away her troubles, but still in the presence of a maid and Caroline's attendant, he keeps his hands to himself. And when he said attendant, he meant spy for the King to make sure the former Duchess did not even think about disputing her new position on the food chain. "M-My mother is severely ill. Her housekeeper does not think she will last more than a few weeks, the doctor said that there was nothing he can do." She sobbed loudly, holding the paper to her chest and ducking her head. "T-The King will not let me leave court to see her."

Of course Edward would want Caroline close, and nowhere near her native land of Beaufort. She was a subdued little girl here, but out there, she was the rightful heir to Beaufort. "Have you not counselled your husband to petition the King on your behalf?" He asked her.

She let out a little hiccup and nodded, wiping her eyes. "He will not risk the King's anger. I begged Stefan and my father in law to ask the King for mercy, but they gave me the same answer. The King still does not trust me, I even went to the Queen but she would not listen to me." She explained, putting a hand on her sternum as if she were having troubles breathing. "My mother is going to die and I will not even be there to bury her." She finalised.

Klaus watched as she took in a deep breath after that statement and then collapsed. The Duke rushed forward to grab her and lower her slowly, gathering her against his chest as she sobbed into his tunic. He waved away the two maids, who curtsied and left the pair to their troubles. Caroline clutched at his shirt and wailed loudly as he stroked her hair, daring to lay a kiss on her forehead as she wept. He wanted to help her, he wanted to march her out the castle Edward be damned, but he would be helping neither of them.

"Shush, little princess." He tried to soothe her instead. "I will petition the King. I will take you to Beaufort myself if I have to." He promised.

"But your wife…" She trailed off between her cries. Elena had been sick with pneumonia for the last week now, and fading fast away. Klaus had not been to see her, but she had her army of attendants to wait on the Duchess as she coughed and spluttered in her bed. Court gossip had decided that the Duchess was in fact with child and the pregnancy was making her sick but the physician had confirmed there was no child growing in her belly and it was pneumonia. Klaus could have told you that. He had not touched Elena since their wedding night.

"She has her mother here with her, you should be with yours." He told her softly, shushing her once more. "Do not worry, sweet princess. You shall see your mother again."

The King agreed to Caroline leaving court on condition that the new Duke of Beaufort accompany the Countess and make sure that she did not leave her mother's side, and they return when their business there was done. Klaus swore on his title and honour that he would do this duty and departed to find the Countess praying in the castle chapel as she had been for hours now. She was dressed in all black and her eyes glistened with happy tears when he told her that he would be taking her to her mother's side tonight.

Klaus did not ask Damon for his permission to take Caroline from court before the pair rode from the castle to Beaufort overnight. The Salvatore Count would just have to get over his wife's disappearance, as the King had approved her departure. Caroline was swift on horseback, and jumped from the beast before Klaus could dismount and help her down, rushing into the household her mother was living in.

"Mama! Mama!" She called as the maid curtsied and the Countess swept past her. Klaus followed her, leaving the stable boy to take care of their horses as the dawn light fell on the modest house and filtered through the stained glass windows. It was a far cry from the estate that the Forbes family had once had at Beaufort, the one that Klaus now owned. He planned to avoid his current and Caroline's old home best he could on this trip, it would be hard enough on the blonde beauty without the trip down memory lane.

He was halfway to the Dowager Princess' room when he heard the mourning wail, and picked up his pace to get to the doorway. The maid bowed her head and looked solemnly over at the mother and daughter. A priest was just finishing with reading the last rites, and bowed his head. Caroline was kneeling beside the bed, clutching her mother's cold, white hand and holding it to her lips. They were too late, her mother had died moments ago and Caroline had not been here.

Klaus closed his eyes to stop any emotion seeping out as the Countess wept. "Forgive me, Mama, forgive me, I am so sorry." She whispered into the skin of her mother's hand. "I have failed you, Mama." She breathed.

The Duke approached the blonde from behind and put a hand on her shoulder to offer some sort of support to her in this moment. She sobbed at his touch and he sat on the bed's edge, carefully not to touch her mother's body. Caroline then lowered her head into his lap and continued to cry, continuing to beg for forgiveness. He shushed her softly and laced his fingers through her blonde curl until her sobs faded away.

* * *

Klaus sat at his desk writing a letter to inform the court that the Dowager Princess was dead. He was in one of the guest rooms and Caroline had been put in the room across the hall but he had still heard her crying all night. They had held the funeral two days ago, and Caroline had cried through that too. It seemed the Countess would never stop crying. He had supported her best he could during the small, private funeral but he knew that Caroline's mother had wanted to be buried at the estate in Beaufort next to her husband. Not in the nearest church's graveyard.

Since then, Caroline had been locked in her room and refused to come out. The maids slipped in every few times to feed her, but the plate always came out half full. Klaus tried to enter twice but she barricaded herself in. Klaus knew she needed time to cry herself out and prepare to go back to the court where she would have to be made of stone. He would let her have that time, if he needed to lie and tell the King that Caroline's mother was not yet dead to give her more time. He would not let her leave that room until she was ready for it.

The door opened and Klaus turned to see Caroline walking in, his eyes widening when he saw that she was in only her white nightdress and barefoot. Her hair hung loose around her face and her cheeks were dry and devoid of tears for the first time since they had arrived. She was a complete vision, an angel and a siren in one delicious incarnation. Klaus would not pretend that he was not aroused by this sight or that he had not dreamt of this night for a long time.

But she was in mourning, he would not take advantage of her like this. Klaus stood and went to take a cloak of his to cover her up but she shrugged him away. "I do not need to be coddled, or pitied, or passed over." She breathed, the darkness in her eyes that had been there that evening in the hallway. "I just….I just want to forget everything for a little while." Caroline told him. Klaus smirked, putting the cloak aside and moving his fingers to the neckline of her dress. This time she did not slap him instantly.

"You will not regret this?" He asked her gently.

"I do not care. I just want something in my life other than the pain." Caroline breathed before she surged forward to capture his lips.

Klaus had dreamt of her kiss for many years, but the real thing was like heaven. In his dreams, she had been the sweetest kiss he'd ever experienced and it had been a vision true to life. He instantly kissed her back, moving his hands to her waist to bring her close to his warm body, to let her feel how she drove him crazy. He knew that she was just using him to distract herself, but he would be the best distraction that he could be. He would always bend to her wishes.

Klaus nipped at her bottom lip which prompted her to moan into his mouth. Her moan sent his brain into overdrive, his senses igniting. His fingers traced a path down to her hips where he began to bunch the fabric up and bring her dress over her head, desperate to see her, all of her. The white thin fabric easily came over her head, Caroline breaking away from his lips to lift her arms and let him strip her naked in front of him. The candlelight illuminated her figure and the cold caused her nipples to tighten as Klaus tossed the dress aside forgotten.

Klaus' eyes were dark with lust as he took in her naked form; she might as well be sculpted from marble, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Klaus cupped her cheeks and kissed her once more, bringing her back to him. She moved her hand into his hair and groaned once more against his lips, her chest heaving against his tunic as her breathing became heavy. Klaus' heart was racing.

A few minutes later, Klaus was lowering her onto his bed and lifting his own shirt over his head, throwing it aside. Her eyes raked over his bare chest, scattered with his war wounds and her fingers came to brush against the skin. He smirked and caught her hand with his, lifting it to his lips and kissing the heel of her palm. He peppered a line of kisses up her hand to the tip of her middle finger, lightly biting the tip. With her hand still against his lips, his free hand traced a path from her hairline where he played with her curls to the apex of her thighs. Caroline followed his fingers with her lust lidded eyes and let out a little whimper or moan every few seconds. He memorised the spots on her body that made her moan, saving them in case by some miracle there would be a next time. He would be praying every day until there was, even if he died a withered old man in church.

"Klaus…" She whined wantonly when his fingers began to move through her folds. He knew that her husband had never given her pleasure like this by the way she trembled at his touch as he spread her and her moisture, eyes on her the whole time. "Please..." She begged.

"I am just getting started with you, sweet princess." He promised. Klaus knew if he was only going to get one chance, one night with her, he was going to make it count. Make her beg for it, make her feel sated and make her happy even if only for a little while. She groaned and moved her hips down, whimpering as she tried to get more contact. He smirked and moved his arm around her waist to sit her up and bring them close to his chest. Klaus kissed her hotly and slipped a finger inside her, Caroline cried out in pleasure against his lips.

"Please, please, please..." Caroline moaned against him as he crooked his finger and found that sensitive spot Klaus was certain her husband had never even heard of. She gripped at his curls.

"What do you want, Caroline?" He breathed.

"You...I want you..." She replied breathily as he began to kiss up and down her neck, nipping and sucking at the skin but carefully not to leave a mark. Should her husband demand his conjugal rights from her before the marks faded and found her covered with another man's marks, Caroline would be cast out onto the streets and branded a whore. He wouldn't do that to her, he would do anything to keep her safe even if it was in a loveless marriage. Klaus couldn't deny her anything, especially when she breathed her wishes against his lips like she did now. Klaus began to move his finger in and out of her, smirking as she clenched around him and moved her hips. "Lord in Heaven..." She gasped. Klaus rewarded her with another finger.

It only took a few minutes to bring her to her peak. Caroline fell back onto the sheets as she came, Klaus loomed over her. She gripped the sheets with her hands, closing her eyes tightly and whispering his name as she experienced a new high. As she came down, Klaus removed his fingers from her folds and sat back on his knees to lift her leg into his hands, kissing her ankle. "I'll guess he has never done that." He smirked triumphantly. Caroline lifted her eyelids, they were still clouded with lust. Klaus wouldn't speak her husband's name, it would break the spell that had fallen on them tonight and make this real. They both had spouses waiting for them at court.

Caroline just shook her head as her breasts rose and fell. Klaus crawled up to her lips and she cupped his face to welcome his kiss. "Never." She breathed in a promise. Klaus may not have been the first to have her, but he was the first to have her moan and writhe like this. He would take what he could get, he thought to himself and began to rid himself of his trousers. Caroline watched with eager eyes, trembling with the aftershocks of her climax and the promise of another.

Klaus discarded his clothes and was just as naked as she as he pressed her into the mattress and cupped her breast like he had in the hallway that night. She groaned and rolled her head back against the pillow, gripping at his biceps so tightly he thought she might draw blood.

"Klaus...please...I need you...right now..." She told him as he kissed up her jawline and moved between her thighs. His tip teased her entrance and she moaned, bucking her hip against him. Klaus smirked and nipped at her earlobe.

"Once more, princess. Say it." He smirked. Caroline knew what he meant.

"Please...please, please, please! I need you..." She breathed desperately, closing her eyes as her thighs shuddered. Klaus smiled genuinely and kissed her lips, moving his tongue into her mouth as he buried himself inside her. Klaus had dreamed of the sensation of her walls fluttering around him as he gave her this pleasure but it was nothing like the real thing. Caroline let out a gasp of pleasured relief, which he swallowed with his lips. "Klaus..." Caroline's lust thickened throat made her voice something sinful. Klaus slowly began to move in and out of her, listening to her cries and whimpers, adding his own moans as they reached their climax together.

* * *

Caroline slept against Klaus' chest like the dead as Klaus watched her, the moonlight dancing upon her skin. They were both exhausted and sated, so much so that Caroline couldn't even bring herself to return to her room. Klaus couldn't bear to let her go, he kissed her until she was tucked into him and made her swear not to leave his side tonight. If he could have her for one night, he would use every drop of moonlight that he could.

* * *

_December, 1464 - London, England; The Court of King Edward IV and Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville_

It was a resounding, everlasting slap to the face when Klaus saw Caroline three months later with her father in law. They had not spoken since they had returned to court. Caroline busied herself with her duties as the Queen's attendant while Klaus busied himself with his duties on the King's council. The pair of them had made an agreement not to talk of their night together. The elder Count and Caroline were sat in the grand hall and drank summer wine as Klaus was passing by when the older of the two called his name to get his attention.

"Duke Mikaelson, come celebrate with us!" Count Salvatore cheered as he took a sip of wine. Klaus furrowed his brow, began over to the pair with his hands behind his back and asked what the occasion was as Caroline sipped at her own wine. "My son and my daughter in law are to give me an heir! The midwife confirmed yesterday that the Countess is with child."

Klaus' amused expression fell from his face when he heard the news that Caroline was pregnant, but he easily fixed it to a more neutral expression to hide his shock and his pain. The Duke smiled once uneasily, looking at the blonde who was staring into her glass of wine with much intent. Even now he could see the tiny bump poking from underneath her yellow dress, Klaus could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Salvatore continued to ramble on about his first grandchild as Caroline slowly lifted her eyes to meet Klaus'. He gave her a look that was voicing a question that he could never ask aloud.

_Is it mine? _

Caroline nodded once with anguished eyes.

Klaus let out a breath he didn't know that he had been holding and excused him as politely as he could, to the Count's discontent. He walked straight to the gardens for some fresh air and to avoid anyone as he struggled with this news. Caroline was pregnant with his child, his heir and child grew within her belly and she would be forced to masquerade it as a Salvatore. Klaus wanted to take her away, take her and the child to Beaufort and hide them from the world. He wanted to live in a world where she was not married, and there were no titles, no sides in a war, the only kind of world where they could be happy together.

A world that would never exist.

* * *

Klaus suffered in silence over the next few months as the Salvatores celebrated the newest addition to their family while Caroline's stomach grew with his child. Whenever he saw her in the halls of the castle, he wanted to rush to her and ask her how the child was, how she was, whether her feet hurt or whether he could do anything but he couldn't. He bit his tongue and drank away his sorrows. He returned to his whoring and ignored his wife as she grew weaker and weaker.

The announcement of the birth came a week after Elena finally succumbed to her illness and died in her sleep. A little girl called Elizabeth, after the Queen and her mother. A daughter who would be the next Countess Salvatore, until she was married off to some Baron or lowly titled whore like Damon. Klaus did not even get the chance to see his daughter. He'd always imagined that he would be waiting outside the birthing room when his first born child came into the world. Instead he was drinking in the hall of the castle, pretending to mourn his wife whilst hoping Caroline would survive the birth.

She did, he knew she would, she was strong. But he could not bear to stay at court whilst she was there with their child. Klaus packed up his things and returned to his estate at Beaufort. He would try and forget the blonde and his daughter, but they were always the first thing he thought of in the morning and the last thing he thought of before succumbing to sleep. They haunted him.

She haunted him like a ghost that would not let his soul be at peace.

* * *

_**So I bare my skin, a****nd I count my sins**_  
_**And I close my eyes, a****nd I take it in**_  
_**I'm bleeding out**_  
_**I'm bleeding out for you, for you.**_


	2. Part 2

**It's Wednesday where I am which means it's time for the final part of the one shot! Are you guys excited? I'm excited. I wouldn't have time to post during the day, so you're getting it tonight! **

**Thank you all for such wonderful, heartfelt reviews. I genuinely started crying whilst I was reading one (I won't name names) because of how beautifully touching it was. Thank you for enjoying the story and being so kind to me, it means the world, it truly does. I hope you enjoy the second part of the one shot, there may be a third but there may not be. It's really a hit and miss, if there's enough demand and I can make it work, then I'll add a third part but I think that this part sums up the story quite nicely. There's also a foreshadowing metaphor story that I imagine everyone will notice that I added in at the very last minute.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

**_I'll come back when you call me_**  
**_No need to say goodbye..._**

**Regina Spektor - The Call **

* * *

_Five years later – The Readeption of Henry VI_

_September, 1470, London, England; The Court of King Edward IV and Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville_

Caroline heard her daughter's footsteps coming into her room before she sat up in bed. She was still weak but she was not an invalid and she would hold her daughter if she pleased. Elizabeth Salvatore was every bit her mother in her kindness, patience and positivity but her looks, her temper and her stubbornness were all her father, especially her eyes and her sandy blonde curls. If you put Klaus and Lizzie next to each other, you would know that they were related instantly. Caroline had never seen them next to each other, but she could imagine it. She did in her dreams.

"Mama, they said you were sick." Her little girl's worried voice rang as she rushed to her mother's bedside. Lizzie jumped up onto the bed and Caroline pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her little girl. "Father said that my baby brother had to go to Heaven." She added sadly.

Caroline looked down at her stomach sadly, her bump nearly completely vanished under her white nightgown. The physician had put Caroline on bed rest when she had miraculously become pregnant again but during her fifth month, she had woken in bloody sheets and cried herself through the pain. This had been her third miscarriage with Damon's child, the first two were early in the pregnancy, and due to unknown causes. Each time, Damon reminded her spitefully that she had not yet given him a male heir, ignoring her pain and her heartache at losing another child. All he had was Lizzie and what use was a stupid girl to him?

Caroline didn't mind that Elizabeth was a girl. She loved her daughter more than anything and she had known for years now that she would be the only child Caroline would ever bear. She was not destined to bear a Salvatore child. Caroline knew that. She was destined to have the child of Niklaus Mikaelson, the Duke of Beaufort. She had borne the child of the only man she had been certain she could love, and now she did love him in her dreams. She had fulfilled that fate when she had had Elizabeth six years ago, and now she knew she would never give Damon a son.

She had known when the midwife had told her that she was pregnant with Lizzie that Klaus was the father. Caroline had missed only two bleeds in the two months since they had spent the night together. She had not slept with Damon for a month before that night, and did not lie with him again after that night until after Elizabeth was born and he began demanding a male heir. She could not bear for another man to touch her after Klaus had pressed her into that bed and drove her crazy. If there had been any doubt in her heart as to her child's paternity, it was gone when she held her daughter for the first time and looked into her eyes that were exactly Klaus'.

Elizabeth was as stubborn and difficult as her father as well. Caroline laboured for a day with her, all alone save for her midwives and attendants. She had wanted her mother with her when she was young, but it was a dream she could never realise. The midwife and doctor had been sure that Caroline would not survive the birth, but she would not leave her daughter with her husband and his father. She would not abandon her family ever again like she had left her mother to die in that house by herself.

During the labour Caroline had remembered that Klaus had once told her the Latin mantra of the Mikaelson family. _Semper et in Saecula_; loosely translated, it meant always and forever. Caroline focused on the phrase, she spoke it to herself during her prayers and imagined Klaus was there with her. She was carrying a Mikaelson child, she would honour her birth right and never leave her daughter. Klaus had done what she asked, he had given her something in her life other than the pain and the loss and she would not throw that gift away by dying in childbirth. It had all been worth in the end.

Lizzie brought Caroline back to earth from her thoughts by tugging loosely on her hair. She smiled sadly and looked back up at her little girl. "Yes, and it was very sad for Mama but these things happen, angel." Caroline told her softly, using the nickname she'd used for her daughter for years now. She was truly an angel sent from Heaven to Caroline.

"Father seemed angry. But he always seems angry." Elizabeth muttered as she lay facing her mother, both of the girls on their sides, the younger of the two tucking her hand under her cheek as they began to speak quietly amongst themselves. Caroline furrowed her brow, scanning her daughter's face and wrists for forming bruises; two of Damon's favourite spots to strike out as she knew from experience. Caroline had never seen Damon hit Elizabeth, but it was only a matter of time with his temper and tendency to lash out at Caroline. "Is Papa always angry?"

Caroline had told Lizzie when she was four that her real father was a great man and he loved her very much but he could not be with her or see her. It had started as a fairy tale to soothe her daughter after Damon's wrath had upset her one night but it morphed into something for the girls to share. Caroline told her that Damon was her father in mind only but she must never tell anyone about her real father. She swore the child to secrecy and whenever they spoke of Elizabeth's blood father, they called him Papa so not to arouse suspicion.

"Sometimes, but not always." She assured her daughter softly, tucking one of her little girl's curls behind her ear. "And I doubt that he would ever be angry at you, angel, because he loves you very much." Caroline added. She did not know whether Klaus loved their child, she had not seen him since she'd gone into her confinement. That was almost six years ago, her Elizabeth would turn six in the coming May. Hardly anyone had seen hair or hide of him since he had left for Beaufort shortly after Lizzie was born. He may not even care that he had given Caroline the most precious possession in the world.

"Does he love you, Mama?" Elizabeth's voice was clear.

Caroline only smiled and pulled her little girl closer to her. She did not know the answer to this question but she had devised an answer in her head a long time ago. "He loved me enough to give me you, did he not?" Caroline breathed against her daughter's hair, much to Lizzie's delight. The little girl giggled happily and snuggled against her mother's chest. "If that is not love, then I do not know what is." She added, tickling her daughter.

Elizabeth was Caroline's last connection to Klaus, and her rock, her angel. She clung to her daughter during the rebellion that knocked King Edward off the throne and put Henry back in his rightful place. Caroline clung to her daughter as the court shifted back to red roses and Lancaster and she hoped without hope that Henry would return her title to her and her daughter. It wasn't until it was too late that she realised King Henry was too mad to remember his own name, let alone the fact she had had her lands and titles taken from her.

And above all, Caroline clung to her daughter when Edward returned and the battles and wars began again.

* * *

_Late April, 1471 – Salvatore Manor_

Caroline had been summoned to her husband's study that day and she had not expect good news in the slightest. She was still fuming since the Salvatore family had fled to their manor from court when the battles began again to await a call to arms. Another battle, the last battle, was coming. It would decide who was King once and for all. But Caroline was not concerned with that, she had stopped caring about the games played by the Kings of York and Lancaster. She was only concerned with the way Damon had treated Elizabeth the day that they had left.

The little girl had been confused about why they were leaving the only home she'd known, they had barely spent any time at the manor since her birth. Elizabeth had complained about the way her 'father' was talking to Caroline, the same way he always had, and he had turned on her. Elizabeth's eye was still bruised though it was fading and her arms bore his fingertips. The sight of watching her daughter being hit and being unable to do anything had driven her to extreme lengths.

"I am to ride to battle with King Edward. Stefan will join me, as will our men." Damon told her curtly as a way of greeting his wife of nearly seven years. "I can trust you to handle the manor whilst I am gone." He posed the statement like a question as Caroline stood in the doorway, watching her husband write a letter. Just the sight of him made her heart race with anger and her fist clench at her sides. "I will come to your bed tonight. Whatever the outcome of the battle, the Salvatore family still needs an heir." He added offhandedly.

She nodded once, her insides already churning at the prospect of sharing her bed with this man again, like she had been for the last five years in an effort to provide a Salvatore heir that would never come. "Yes, husband." Caroline spoke through gritted teeth.

There was a few seconds before Damon looked up at his wife with displeased eyes. "You are still here?" He asked her. Caroline took that as her cue and turned to leave, curtsying quickly and shutting the door to his study behind her. She smirked to herself as she watched through the halls of the house to her rooms. A battle, a gruesome bloody battle. Klaus had told her the truth about war, it was not glorious, there was no brotherhood or honour to it, this battle would be a slaughter. The winner was simply the one who slaughtered more men. She could only hope and pray that Damon was amongst the slaughtered this time.

She pushed the door to her bedroom open and paced a few steps, straightening out her skirts and running her hands through her hair before going to her jewellery case. Inside the jewelled and antique box was a secret compartment, her mother had shown it to her when she was a child and told her to keep it secret. Caroline pressed the catch on the side of the box and the secret lid came away to reveal the small vial she'd been keeping in there since she'd left court. Caroline picked it up and held it in the light that came through the window.

Belladonna poison was nasty stuff, it burned the body from the inside out. Letting Damon die on the battlefield was a kinder fate than Damon deserved, but she would certainly be less culpable. She could not let him live after what he had done to Elizabeth, nobody touched her angel like that and lived. She would wield a blade, burn a man alive, raise an army or slip poison into their wine if it meant Elizabeth was protected. All she could do was wait to see if the battle would eliminate Damon before she needed to.

* * *

"Will you tell me a story?" Elizabeth asked softly as Caroline tucked the little girl into bed that evening. Caroline asked her what story she would like her to tell. The blonde baby was quiet for a little bit before she pushed the covers back and jumped up till she was standing on the bed, smiling like a lunatic. "Tell me a story about princesses and knights! Those are always the best ones!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Okay, I will. But first, sit down and be still, you must lie down or you will not sleep, Elizabeth." Caroline chuckled, pulling her daughter down once more. Her daughter giggled and sat on her knees, waiting for her mother to begin. The Countess could feel eyes watching them so she turned her head to see her husband standing in the doorway, glaring at the pair of them. Like he was angry that they had the audacity to be happy whilst he remained heirless.

Caroline ticked one eyebrow at her husband and the pair held a spiteful gaze before Damon disappeared from the doorway, his footsteps fading away. He would be waiting for her in her room when she came back from tucking her daughter in, she knew it. Caroline smoothed down her nightgown and robe she used to cover herself, turning back to Elizabeth and pushing her curls from her face before beginning her story.

"Once there was a princess, she did not live in a castle like most princesses and her father was not a King. She had no desire to be a Queen, she only wished to be happy. But a witch cast a spell on the princess, and she was forced to live away from her home, a magnificent garden full of red roses, and lilies and daisies." Elizabeth seemed distressed at this development in the tale and her brow crinkled the same way Klaus' did. Caroline smiled.

"One day, a red knight came to her side and asked her what she wished for. When she said that she wished to be free, he told her that he was sorry but he could not break the witch's spell. This made the princess very sad because a wicked dragon had been sent to guard her in a new garden, full of poisonous leaves and scary trees." Elizabeth pouted and told her mother that she did not like this story very much.

"That's because you do not know the ending yet." Caroline tapped her daughter on the nose and continued. "So instead, he gave her a white rose seed and told her to plant it in her garden and let it grow, and it would make her happy as she could be. He then kissed the princess and left to go to battle like the brave knight he was." Caroline told her daughter, fingering the white rose crest on her daughter's night dress, the colour of the York house.

"Did it make the princess happy? Was she ever free?" Elizabeth piped up.

"The princess watered the seed and sang to it, and sure enough, the rose grew over time until one day it flowered. It was so beautiful, that it made the princess happy to have something of her own in the garden and she took good care of it. When the dragon tried to hurt the rose, the princess took a sword and used it to cut his throat to protect her rose." Caroline smiled, looking back at the empty doorway where her husband had been a few seconds before.

"What about the knight? Did he return from battle?" The little girl asked.

"He came back from a great battle and saw that the princess had protected the rose, and he was happy too. The knight threw down his sword and armour and joined her in the garden, preferring to be with her and the rose rather than be free and without the rose's beauty. Much like she preferred to be with the knight and her beautiful rose than to be Queen or even a princess." Caroline smiled. Elizabeth grinned at this ending. Caroline threw up her hands. "That is it, sweetheart. Now you must sleep, Father will be leaving for battle tomorrow and we must bid him goodbye." She insisted, kissing her daughter's hair softly and tucking her in.

"Good night, Mama." Elizabeth smiled brightly before closing her eyes. Caroline kissed her daughter's hair once more and stood from where she'd been sat on the bed.

"Good night, Elizabeth." Caroline replied before blowing out the candle that burned by her daughter's bedside and going to the door. She closed the door behind her and looked down the hallway where the candlelight glowed from her bedroom. Caroline could just make out Damon's shadow through the doorway. She swallowed thickly and smoothed down her night dress once more before beginning to the bedroom herself, praying the whole while that she would not conceive tonight when she was nearly free.

* * *

_May 4, 1471 – The Battle of Tewkesbury_

Klaus got the call to the battlefield and breathed a sigh of relief. He was ready to return to that Hell. It couldn't be any worse than what he had been suffering for the last six years. He had returned to Beaufort and his estate to live out his self-imposed exile, only seeing his family when they came to call on him, which wasn't often. Klaus only returned to Court for special occasions like his father's funeral and did not stay long enough to cause a stir. Rebekah visited regularly, however, and each time she would bring news of Caroline that he did not request but needed.

He knew of her continued marriage and three miscarriages only days after each one happened. Klaus was sad and angry that she was put into pain by that monster she called a husband but he was also secretly glad that she had no other child other than his own. His sister wrote to tell him of Elizabeth's growth, how clever and beautiful she was and how charming she was to all the court. Rebekah never told him, but he was sure that she had figured out long ago who Elizabeth's real father was.

Klaus once more stood by Edward's side at the Battle of Barnet and again at the Battle of Tewkesbury. He had nothing more to live for so he did not care if he fell. However, Klaus did make one request of the King before the battle started. If he were to perish, he wished for his title to be passed back to Countess Caroline, its rightful owner, until Elizabeth could inherit the title for herself. Edward was baffled by this request but after some illumination on the matter from the Duke, swore on it nonetheless that Caroline would be Duchess of Beaufort should he die on the field for the side of York that day. At least his death would be good for something, he thought bitterly.

"Duke Mikaelson, finally come out of your cave?" Klaus was walking through the camp when he heard that cocky voice behind him. He turned to see Damon standing there in his nice, shining armour and a smirk on his face. The Duke simply rolled his eyes and continued on his way. "What is the rush, cousin? I thought we might catch up over ale." Damon yelled after him. Klaus tensed and stopped walking.

"Every second I spend looking upon your face is a second wasted. I would not give you the time of day much less a drink, Damon." Klaus rounded on the Count, only a foot away from him by the time he finished the sentence. Damon didn't back down, he only smirked. "If your wife had not wished you alive, I would have killed you the day you raised a hand to her. So it is by her good grace and my unending mercy for her sake that you stand here today." Klaus told him in a matter of fact tone. This news did baffle Damon slightly but he regained his composure.

"Caroline has been a failure in her wifely duties. All she has given me is a seven yearlong headache and a useless girl who I cannot even love." Damon hissed. "When I have given her a home, clothes, gold, security, money and many other things for these six past years." He added.

"Clearly pleasure was not one of them. Given the way she _writhed_ against me all those years ago, and told me how utterly impotent you were...and you blame her for your lack of sons." Klaus quipped with a raised eyebrow. Damon fumed silently, the look on his face pushing Klaus that little bit further to continue taunting the Count with the truth. "And you might want to scratch Elizabeth from that list, because she did not give _you_ her."

"What?"

"Elizabeth is not your child, and she never was. That is why you do not love her, and she does not love you. Because she is mine. My daughter and my heir; Caroline and I conceived her in Beaufort when I took her to see her mother on her death bed, a duty that you neglected as her husband. Elizabeth is not a Salvatore, she is a Mikaelson, and I'll be damned if she goes another day not knowing it and grows up a product of your disgusting, wretched family." He spat at Damon, who grew more shocked and angry with every word that fell from his mouth.

"I may as well confess this as we are marching off to fight and one of us will inevitably fall. If it is I, then it no longer matters. Elizabeth and Caroline will inherit all I have and will be able to support themselves. If it is you, then our secret dies with you. If you and I both walk away from this battle, then I will slit your throat, because I would rather burn in Hell than have you near Caroline and my daughter again." He promised before stalking away. Klaus heard Damon draw his sword and shout after the Duke.

"Come back and fight me, coward; If Hell is what you wish, then I am happy to give it to you!"

"I will fight you when the battle is over, conserve your strength. You will need it." Klaus called over his shoulder.

* * *

_May 4, 1471 – Salvatore Manor_

Caroline and Elizabeth sat in the pews of the chapel at the Salvatore establishment, both praying for the safety of those they had sent to war once more. The Countess remembered when she spent hours in places like this praying for her father's safe return and then for her mother's health. So far, God had not bent to Caroline's wishes but she could not help but hope. The dark skies loomed outside and she straightened up as a thunderclap boomed through the air, scaring the little girl beside her. Her daughter pressed her face into her mother's dress and the mother chuckled, stroking her back and smiling. "Do not be afraid, little angel. It is only a little bit of thunder. That is all." She soothed.

"Father says thunder means that God is angry with you." Her daughter whispered into her dress. Even though she was about to turn six, the little girl seemed clung to her mother like she had all her life so far and showed no sign of growing out the phase. Caroline coddled her daughter, and didn't care who thought badly of her because of it.

"Now, why on earth would God be angry with you, Lizzie? You are one of his angels after all. He would only be angry that you left Heaven to be with me and He must miss you terribly. I would miss you too." Caroline told her softly as she scooped up her daughter and decided they were done with their prayers for the day, beginning out of the chapel.

"Because I prayed that Papa would come home to us but not Father." The little blonde whispered, leaning against her mother. Caroline sighed heavily and kissed her daughter's hair. "Is God angry with me?" She asked as the rain began to smatter against the window. Caroline stood by the glass and stared out at the road where a messenger would come with news when there was news to give. A fork of lightning shot across the sky and Elizabeth cowered into her mother's shoulder. Caroline shushed her and began to sing a light lullaby about a flame that would burn forever.

"Papa will like that that you prayed for him, Lizzie." She breathed softly. Another strike of lightning sent the little girl shuddering in fear once more, Caroline shushed her gently and kissed her blonde curls as they stood at the window. "It is okay, Lizzie, I am here. I will not leave you."

* * *

The messenger came later that night when Elizabeth had fallen asleep against Caroline's shoulder, standing at the window waiting for the storm to stop and the news to arrive. The Countess rushed out into the light rain, the girl still out cold in her arms. The thunder had stopped an hour before and Elizabeth could sleep through anything so the raindrops did not bother her.

"Lady Salvatore..." The Messenger, Matthew, jumped from his horse and bowed to the noblewoman in a rushed way. The fact he had not called her Countess was a good sign. Caroline would be the Dowager Countess Salvatore if Damon had fallen. She hastily told him to rise and give her his news. He took his hat from his head and bowed his head. "I am sorry to tell you this but your husband fell on the battlefield honourably. A Lancastrian archer slit his throat, he died with little pain. Your brother-in-law lives and is on his way here with the body. I am sorry, Dowager Countess." He told her sombrely.

Caroline let out a little gasp when Matthew told her that Damon was dead but only one thought flitted through her brain loud and clear. _She was free_. She could take Elizabeth and go wherever she pleased. Caroline could leave England and go back to Holland if she wished. Never go back to court unless she pleased. Never again would she suffer the loss of her child by that man's hand or nurse wounds he had given her or her angel. Caroline clutched the baby girl in her arms closer and wished a small prayer. Her prayers were answered at last.

"I was told to deliver this message from the Count should he fall." Matthew added awkwardly, pulling a letter bearing the wax seal of the Salvatore family crest. Assuming the small letter contained the last words Damon would ever say to her, the blonde went forward and snatched the note open. She snapped the wax and opened the letter with Lizzie still in her arms. Its contents shot her plans of freedom from the sky.

_If you are reading this, I am dead and have not lived to beat you to death for betraying me. You are probably elated with joy that your secret was never revealed but I have spoken to the King. In the event of my death, my inheritance and my title will go to my brother and you will not see a penny of my family's fortune again, you Lancastrian whore. By my good grace and my unending mercy, you and your bastard child have not been revealed and you can spend the rest of your pitiful short life of poverty in debt to me._

The Duke of Beaufort is dead, and soon you and your bastard will join him in Hell.

Caroline nearly dropped Elizabeth in shock, letting out a sob and falling to her knees. She let the letter fall from her hands as the messenger tried to haul her back to her feet and bring her inside into the warm but she did not comply. She simply held her daughter and begged for mercy once more.

* * *

_May 4, 1471 – The Battle of Tewkesbury_

Klaus was sure that he was a dead man.

In fact, He was certain of it. God had taken his freedom to marry whom he wished then to make the burn sting more, he had snatched away the love of his life and his daughter. The only thing He could take of any value to Klaus now was his life. The battle was long and hard and Klaus was not as young as he had once been during the early years on the battlefield. He was sure that he was a goner when a dagger pierced his armour and plunged into his side. Klaus did not shout in pain or panic when he saw the blood flowing across the hilt of the knife his attacker had left before running off. It was a welcome sight.

What was an even more of a welcome sight was Damon Salvatore lying injured a few feet away. He would not die from such a wound, but the Count clutched at it pathetically all the same. Klaus grimaced in pain as he wrapped a hand around the dagger and pulled it from his flesh, approaching the Count. Damon took him in as the Duke knelt beside him with the bloodied dagger glistening in the light, the look on his face told Klaus that he knew that he was about to die at Klaus' hand. "Go. Go back to your whore. You both deserve each other." He spat. "Rot in Hell."

Damon's final words were cut off by the knife slashing across his throat, spilling blood onto the grass. Klaus sat and watched the life leave the Count's eyes before throwing the knife aside beside the body of the man he had wanted to smite for 9 years now. He could hear the shouts of victory. He could see the battle was beginning to lull around him, the Yorks victorious.

"What happened here?" Klaus heard Stefan Salvatore's pained voice behind him a few minutes later and turned to see the sweaty, dirty Count rushing over.

"A Lancaster archer slit his throat. I could do nothing." Klaus lied as Stefan fell to his knees beside his brother's body. Klaus clapped a hand onto the brother's shoulder and sighed heavily, playing the role of the empathetic companion to the younger Salvatore. "I am sure that he is in a better place." He added as shouts and commands began to take over the field. The bodies would be collected; the peasants and commoners would be burned or buried and the noble men returned to their homes to be buried in family tombs. It didn't matter where he was buried, Klaus thought to himself, Damon Salvatore would never touch Caroline again.

It was then he turned to his own abdomen and the blood that slipped from his wound.

* * *

_May 5, 1471 – Salvatore Manor_

Caroline burned the letter and got out her mourning clothes, simple black dresses with no jewellery. She had no black dress for her daughter but instead put her into a dark silver dress, the colours of the Salvatore household. The funeral was private and small, but she did not cry. She held her daughter's hand and tried to keep her thoughts away from the letter. Tomorrow she would pack up her things, take what money and gold she could from what Damon had given her over the years in exchange for her compliance and run like Hell. She would tell nobody where she was going and take Elizabeth with her. After all, she could hardly plead sanctuary from Esther Mikaelson, the Dowager Earless with no proof that her son was the father of Elizabeth.

She returned to the chapel that night and begged softly for anything that would save them. She would trade everything she had for salvation, for her daughter to be safe and cared for. Nobody answered her pleas before, except for one man. She had begged Klaus to give her something that wasn't pain, and he had gone above and beyond when he gave her Elizabeth.

The only man who had ever shown her kindness without want of reward was dead, and she was all alone.

* * *

Sighing heavily and running her fingers through her hair, Caroline returned to her room where her maid Camille was folding some clothes. "There is a letter for you, my Lady. The gentleman did not say who it was from, but insisted that I deliver it to you without his Lordship knowing. I did not want to disturb your prayer." Her crisp voice broke the silence of Caroline beginning to strip out of her clothes and brush through her hair. Caroline furrowed her brow and turned to see her maid holding out the letter. She tentatively took the folded and sealed parchment from Camille and broke the seal, not even noticing that it was the seal of the Mikaelson family.

There were only a few words scratched onto the parchment.

_Meet me at Beaufort Manor. _

Caroline looked perplexed as she turned over the page and re-examined the seal. It was a normal crest, but the words stamped across the shield were very familiar. _Semper et in Saecula_; Always and Forever. Like that, the Dowager Countess' heart began to race heavily and she turned back to Camille with a wide-eyed look of shock. "Pack my things, Elizabeth and I are leaving. Tonight." She breathed. The maid nodded and went about her task as Caroline quickly changed into a travelling dress and rushed to the room where Elizabeth slept.

She knelt beside her daughter's bed and kissed her hair to wake her. "Mama…is it morning yet?" She asked softly.

"Lizzie, you and I are going on a journey. We must pack quickly and leave before the sun rises." The mother told her, sitting on the bed beside her angel. Elizabeth slowly sat up and stretched her arms, asking where they were going and why they were whispering. "Nobody must know where we are going, but we cannot stay here. And we are going to where Mama lived when she was a young girl like you, Lizzie."

Caroline gently fingered the red wax seal as she smiled, tucking some hair behind her daughter's ears. "And I hope we are going to see your Papa." She breathed.

* * *

Caroline and Elizabeth arrived at Beaufort Manor during the middle of the next day, having travelled by carriage since the early morning. Elizabeth had fallen asleep against her mother during the journey but was now awake and craning to get a good look at the manor that Caroline had been born in, the summer air and sun doing the place justice. "Mama, it is beautiful." Elizabeth assured her mother with a dopey, toothy grin. "Did you really live here?"

"I did, until I was married." Caroline smiled brightly when she saw her old home. Everything was exactly the same as she remembered from nine years ago when she had been forced to flee. Not even the red roses her mother had cared for all her life had been exchanged for white ones. Klaus hadn't changed one detail in the exterior of the house, but the interior may be a different story. Caroline kissed her daughter's hair. "Now, remember what I told you?"

"Stay with you or Camille and do not let go of your hand." Elizabeth recited her mother's rule as the carriage halted. An usher came forward and opened the door before she could touch the handle to open it herself. Caroline nearly jumped back in surprise.

"Lady Forbes. And young Lady Elizabeth." The man greeted with a smile, offering his hand to the little girl first. Caroline seemed baffled when he referred to her by her old title as a Duke's daughter. Elizabeth grinned and placed her dainty little hand in the man's, letting him bring her from the carriage and she landed lightly on the gravel that made up the front terrain of the house. The little girl looked up at the manor in awe as the usher then helped Caroline and Camille from the carriage.

Caroline came up behind her daughter and squeezed her shoulders, looking up at the manor herself to take it all in. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a curtain on the ground floor twitch but couldn't be certain she'd seen it at all so instead pointed out the window which had been her bedroom to her daughter, and the room she had always wanted to be the nursery for her own children when she inherited Beaufort. The gentleman behind them cleared his throat and began to speak in a clear voice. "The Duke is waiting in the library for you, Lady Forbes; he is sure that you remember the way. He told me that your maid and daughter may have the kitchen staff cook them some lunch." The gentleman told them.

"Are you going to see Papa? Can I come with you?" Elizabeth bounced on her toes to show her excitement and joy. Caroline shook her head and bent down so she was eye level with her angel.

"Mama has to do this by herself but maybe you can come with me later." She promised her sullen looking daughter before pressing a kiss to her cheek. Elizabeth giggled and kissed her mother's cheek softly in return. "Now, be good for Camille, remember your manners and do not run off. You could go see the duck pond in the gardens whilst they are cooking you lunch, I am sure that the Duke would not mind." Caroline told her baby girl before straightening up and dusting off her dress. Elizabeth reached out to help her mother with her task and Caroline smiled before turning around, taking a deep breath and beginning up into the house that held so many memories.

* * *

The library was exactly as she remembered it. It was flooded with light from the large windows as she pushed the door open and peeked inside. All the books surrounded her and welcomed her home; her father had told her that books were the only way to live another life other than your own. They were magic. And it was a book that was in the hand of a man she had never expected to see again. Klaus was reading a dusty old bible that she recognised as her family bible. Her entire family tree was in that book. He perused the pages as if he hadn't heard the door creak open.

"It is you." She breathed in surprise and relief.

"Of course it is me. Is there some other Duke of Beaufort I am not aware of?" He quipped with a cocky smirk, looking up at the Dowager Countess as he did. The years had not done much to Klaus Mikaelson, she noted, he was exactly as she remembered in her dreams. Klaus put the book down and stood up slowly as if he were in pain, but Caroline didn't notice. She rushed forward and threw her arms around his midsection. Klaus let out a groan of pain and wrapped his hands around her upper arms to readjust them higher on his torso. Caroline moved back when he groaned and looked at him with worried eyes, so he began to explain. "Actually, I had a bit of a situation yesterday. Luckily the wound was not deep enough to be fatal. Still hurts a lot though-"

Caroline cut him off by kissing him, an instant way to subdue the Duke into silence if she remembered correctly. Her hand came up to cup his jaw and he smiled against her lips. When she pulled away, she blushed and ducked her head. "I thought that you were dead. I thought you fell during the battle." She admitted. "Damon sent me a letter that said-"

"You trusted his word?" Klaus asked with an arched brow.

"It could have easily been true! You were at battle, many people die in battles and they are not all commoners. My husband fell at Tewkesbury yesterday, I had no way of knowing whether he was telling the truth so I was forced to assume it was." She reminded him sharply, stepping out of his arms but putting her hands flat on his chest to give her leverage should he make an unwanted advance.

"I know Damon is dead. I killed him myself." Klaus returned quickly. Caroline's eyes went wide as pennies and she raised one hand to her lips in shock at this admission from her ex-lover. Of course, she couldn't feel guilty or be angry about his actions. After all, she had had a vial of belladonna waiting among her things with her husband's name on it for weeks now, and many times she had glared at the dagger or sword he carried and wondered what damage she could do before he could take the blade from her.

Klaus shrugged and picked up the family bible that had been sat on the table, walking around to replace it on the shelf it had sat on for years before Caroline was born. Klaus began to peruse the shelves of the library with his back to the Dowager Countess, who clenched her fists. Damn his cavalier attitude to everything, even death. "But I did not invite you here to discuss your late husband's last minutes on earth, I brought you here to discuss our daughter's inheritance, her education and her living arrangements now you are no longer tied to the Salvatore family."

"What makes you think you have any say in her inheritance, or any of those things? She is a bastard child in the eyes of court, people will never accept her as the heir to Beaufort." Caroline answered in a steely tone. "My daughter is to live with me always and you will not take her from me, Klaus so do not even think about telling me that she shall remain here with you." She added firmly.

"I would not dream of doing such a thing. I am sure you would raise an army to take her back should I try and snatch Elizabeth from you." Klaus smirked and turned back to Caroline. "Before the battle, I spoke with the King. He asked me who I planned to name as my heir as Elena and I had no children and I had not remarried since. I told him two names, and two names only. The first was the previous Duke of Beaufort's daughter, as she has more than proved her loyalty since her marriage and nobody would love Beaufort more than she. The King told me that it would be highly irregular to name a woman who was not my blood relation as my heir, and a married one at that, so I supplied the second name." He explained, walking over to her.

"Klaus, what did you do?"

"I explained that a...indiscretion...had led to the birth of my only heir nearly six years ago. She was not only the only the living heir I have, but the only granddaughter of the previous Duke of Beaufort, William Forbes, which doubled her claim to my title should I pass onto the battlefield." Klaus looked apologetic when he described the events that had led to Elizabeth's conception as an indiscretion and Caroline looked worried. He had revealed to the King that she had not only lied with another man during her marriage, but had cukolded Damon for six years. "The King agreed that even a child born out of wedlock with a claim that strong would be the best heir. She is truly a child of both York and Lancaster. So, for now the true nature of Elizabeth's parentage and her place as my heir will remain solely between us and the King. He owes me his life more than a few times so he will not speak a word to anyone, he swore on it."

"But you did not fall in the battle..." Caroline reminded him.

"I am very aware. I was just getting there, princess." Klaus smiled, tucking some of her hair behind her ear gently. She could not help but smile when he did so. "Once long ago, you had something precious taken from you. They took the title that belongs to your father, and now rightfully belong to you and Elizabeth, they took the lands that your family tended and they took the house that you lived in all your life. They gave them to me, even though I had paid for them in blood, and I promised myself that I would one day return to them to you. And now I am in the position where I can..."

"You took my title but you gave me something even more precious. You gave me _her_. You owe me nothing, Klaus." She insisted, interrupting his speech.

"I owe you _everythin_g. You suffered at that monster's hand, raised Elizabeth when I could not be there and gave me hope when I lost faith. Your strength and your courage is the envy of every warrior in England. If they allowed women on the battlefield, God help the man who tried to go against you, sweet princess." Klaus replied.

Caroline smiled at her nickname and Klaus pressed a kiss to her forehead softly, a hand on her shoulder as he did so. She closed her eyes to stop years slipping out from them and ducked her head as he pulled away from her. "I want to make Elizabeth my heir and her claim must be made as strong as it can, and I want you to be the Duchess of Beaufort as you were destined to be. And after yesterday, The King has declared that I should retire from the line of duty and focus on my estate and family. To do that, I will need a Duchess...You would do me a great honour by being the lady of these lands and my wife."

Caroline's heart stopped and she stared at him in shock. Marrying Klaus and then announcing that Elizabeth was his child would reduce the amount of gossip and the insults thrown at her, and Elizabeth would be secured as the heir of Beaufort as Klaus' daughter or stepdaughter to those who did not believe that she was his child. Caroline would have her title returned to her, and she would not have to run away to protect her daughter. They could be happy. After a few seconds, he tilted his head in question. She put a hand on her chest and breathed deeply. "Are you not feeling well? Is the thought of marrying me that repulsive?" He chuckled.

"I cannot bear children anymore...the doctor at court said that it would be an act of God if I were to give birth to a healthy child." She breathed calmly as she could, repeating what the doctor had told her after her final miscarriage. Caroline's three dead children had not been christened, but the last one had been a girl according to the doctor. In her head, Caroline named her Anne. She wasn't going to let Klaus marry her under false pretences that she might give him a legitimate heir, girl or boy. "I cannot give you a son." Caroline muttered in shame.

"Luckily I am not marrying you for your womb and what may give me, I am marrying you for your heart and what you have already blessed me with. If you never bear me a son, then I would not care as long as you were by my side. I intend to recognise Elizabeth wholly as my heir and child. I need nothing more than the pair of you by my side and the word yes to come out of that beautiful mouth of yours." Klaus told her in reassurance, kissing her softly on the forehead. "Say it, princess" He almost pleaded with her.

"Yes...Yes, I will marry you." She breathed. Klaus smiled in relief then replaced it with a smirk, before closing the gap between them and kissing her once more. Caroline cupped his jaw with both hands and kissed him back as deeply as he kissed her. It was like their kiss from all those years ago had never ended as his hands came to sit on her waist and keep her close to him, his bandages and wounds be damned. "I have been your wife since the moment we first kissed. I am completely yours." She breathed against his lips to Klaus' delight.

"And I am yours, princess." He returned, pulling back so their foreheads were touching and their noses were brushing. Caroline smirked and commented that he should call her Duchess now. "We are not married in the eyes of God yet, love." He reminded her gently, kissing her softly between his words.

Caroline pulled back enough to slip her finger against Klaus' lips to silence him. "There is a little girl downstairs who has been waiting a long time to meet you. If we keep her waiting any longer, she may destroy England with her temper that rivals her father's. Best not keep her waiting." She breathed. Klaus smiled in amazement when she spoke of their daughter and straightened up, offering his arm to the lady. She smiled and took his arm, hooking her hand around his bicep.

The pair began out of the library and towards the gardens where their daughter was feeding some bread to the ducks that swam in the giant pond. The little girl giggled as the ducks quacked happily, she was unaware that she was about to meet her Papa and they were all finally home. The little blonde looked up to see her mother approaching and jumped up, rushing over. "Mama! Mama, look! They have ducks!" Elizabeth insisted before turning to Klaus. "We did not have ducks back at our other home because Father did not like them." She pouted.

Caroline smiled when she turned to see Klaus staring at their daughter with utter amazement and shock, he was completely in awe of the little girl that they had created and he had never met. She leaned forward to run her fingers lightly through Elizabeth's hair to comb the curls out. Elizabeth curled up against her mother and cupped one hand around her mouth to make the conversation more private when she began whispering. "Is that my Papa?" She asked. Klaus looked baffled by this development but still in shock from meeting their little girl. Caroline nodded at her question and Elizabeth smiled brightly, looking at Klaus with wonderment.

"Elizabeth, this is Klaus Mikaelson, Duke of Beaufort." Caroline introduced. Elizabeth stepped away from her mother and curtsied to her father best she could for her age. Klaus finally seemed to be regaining his bearings and bowed to the little girl. "Klaus, this is Elizabeth."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth. I have wanted to meet you for a very long time. You are as beautiful as everyone has always told me. It is as if I am looking at your mother when she was a little girl." Klaus assured the little girl, taking her hand from her side to kiss the back like he had done to the little girl's mother many times before. Elizabeth was still grinning stupidly at the compliment but the smile disappeared and she gestured for Klaus to come closer. Caroline watched as Klaus knelt down so he was eye level with his little girl, already completely in love with her.

"Mama said that you could not see me, but you loved me very much." She explained sadly.

"She is right, I could not see you for a very long time, but that is different now. And I do love you and your mother very much." Klaus explained gently, looking her right in the eyes as he spoke. Elizabeth smiled once more and looked at her mother for confirmation, Caroline nodded to confirm that this was true. Things were very different. "In fact, I would like it very much if you and your mother would live here with me. Do you think that you would like to stay here, Elizabeth?" He asked her curiously, genuine fear that she would not want to stay with him and reject him in his eyes. Caroline put a hand on her daughter's shoulder gently as he spoke.

"Oh really, Mama? Can we stay? Can we please?" Elizabeth dragged out the 'please' for a few seconds and jumped with excitement, absolutely elated with the idea of staying here at Beaufort with her real father, rather than stay at the cold, dark house that belonged to the Salvatores. Caroline chuckled and nodded once more. The youngest of the three grinned dopily and squealed happily, still bouncing. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Klaus' neck without even asking whether she could hug a Duke without permission.

Klaus grunted slightly in pain but recovered quickly, too surprised and taken aback by his daughter's gesture to notice the pain too much. It was obvious from his expression that he was not sure how to react to Elizabeth's show of affection as Caroline giggled. Elizabeth clearly wasn't going to relent her grip any time soon so Klaus slowly raised his arms to wrap around her waist to hold her close to him. Caroline watched with a smile as Klaus began to stand up, still holding Elizabeth in his arms until her feet left the floor. Caroline's eyes were wet with emotion as she watched Klaus kiss his daughter's hair and hold her tightly to him for the first time. "Will you stay with us?" Elizabeth asked, her voice muffled by her head tucked into Klaus' shoulder.

"I am not going anywhere. And if I do, I will come back to you both." He promised the little girl softly, kissing her hair and looking at Caroline as he spoke.

It was a promise that he kept for the rest of his life.


	3. Part 3

**Okay, here it is. The final part, for reals this time. I wasn't going to write this part at all, but it came to my in a daydream and I decided to approach it like Part 1.5 so the bulk of this one happens between Part 1 and Part 2. You'll just have to read it, I guess to know what I mean by the 'bulk' but I hope that you enjoy it. This was originally a deleted scene from the first part that I edited around and modified to fit my new purposes and so it could see the light of day and you lovely people could read it.**

**Thank you once again for all the amazing reviews that you gave on the second and first part, they're so amazing and lovely and I'm glad that you enjoyed both parts and got so emotionally invested with them. This one shot pretty much ruled my life for a week or so, so it's nice to see my obsession has touched some of you guys too. I just wanted to share this final part with you to wrap the story up, and because it's 7 days to Christmas, I added a seasonal twist to it! So enjoy, be sure to leave a review and thank you!**

* * *

**_All the things you've said, and the things you've done,  
Can you carry it with no regrets?  
Can you stand the person you've become?  
_****  
Bastille - The Weight of Living Part I****_  
_**

* * *

Klaus sat in the library of Beaufort manor, watching the rain patter the window and the cold wind batter the trees. The North was famed for its cold storms and it was the middle of the winter, nearing Christmas but it didn't look very seasonal. The Duke sat back in the old chair and the raindrops fell against the stained glass windows of the library. He turned to the bible he'd been looking at, a family bible that belonged to the Forbes family. They'd clearly not had time to take it when their home had been taken from them by the King's men and they had to flee so it had sat on the shelves for years without a second glance.

The first couple of pages were dedicated to the names of the Forbes family. The last names were Caroline Mary Forbes and Elizabeth Mikaelson. Klaus had added the latter name into the bible's pages in an act of vanity to make himself feel better one evening after returning from court. It had been after the first time he'd ever laid eyes on Elizabeth, and the day he'd wanted to lay claim to her, let everyone know that she was his daughter and the woman who had given birth to her was his and would always be his. The memories taunted Klaus like a spectre...

* * *

The first time Klaus ever saw his daughter, it had been two years since he'd left court. He'd not come looking for Caroline and their bastard child, he'd actually come for a completely different reason. His father had died three days before, and the news had reached Beaufort and Mikael's third son. He was expected to attend the funeral, so had to leave his self-proclaimed exile and re-join the court for as long as it took to put his father in the ground and have his will read out.

He rode alone on his favourite horse and only his sister, Rebekah was there to greet him when he finally arrived at the palace. It was the same as it had been since he'd left; not one bit of it had changed but it felt different. It felt bitter and painful to ride into the courtyard where he had kissed Caroline's hand and welcomed her to court all those years ago. Had it really been four years since that winter's day? It felt like an eternity to Klaus.

His little sister was waiting, all wrapped up in black, when he slowed his stallion in front of her, a big smile on his face. They hadn't seen each other for seven months now, but they wrote nearly once a week. Elijah wrote occasionally to check that Klaus wasn't dead, his other brothers regularly sent their love and his parents had pretended he was dead with his deciding to be a social pariah. Only Rebekah bothered to travel to Beaufort to see him even though she was now married, her husband gracious enough to allow the journey to see her brother.

"Welcome back to court, Nik, it's been too long." Rebekah smiled as Klaus dismounted from his horse. She rushed forward to hug her brother and he wrapped his arms around her, smiling into her shoulder as she clung to her big brother. He was after all the one who'd stood up for her when her father had wanted to sell her off to the Salvatores and since then, she'd been waiting for a better match and found it in a man she'd actually come to care for, and she had Klaus to thank for it. He had on top of that suffered in a loveless marriage for two years as punishment. "I missed you." She admitted softly.

"I missed you too, Rebekah." Klaus assured her, before pulling back and offering her his arm. She took it happily and they began up the same stairs Klaus had led a certain Countess up years ago. He swallowed thickly at the memories that came flooding back and his throat burned for a drink of ale to dull the sting of the memories.

"I do wish that you would consider coming back to court, Nik. You cannot hide away and mourn forever." She whined as they began into the quiet halls of the castle. Klaus smirked at the implication that he was still mourning his late wife, Elena, who he'd laid to rest with a tearless face two years prior. The week before his daughter had been born, he thought to himself. She was nearly two years old and he'd never once laid eyes on her.

"I am not mourning Elena; we were never married in my eyes." He assured his sister. "I am just fine, Rebekah." He added.

"Nik, nobody has seen you for years now. You do not respond to the King's invitations to court, and when you do, you decline and send gifts to appease him and the Queen. People are beginning to believe that you are dead or something." Rebekah insisted, halting her brother with a hand on his shoulder as the pair stood in the hallway. Klaus knew why she wasn't conducting this conversation in private, the more time Klaus spent in public, the better. He could see women gossiping out the corner of his eyes already. "You should stay at court and enjoy life for a bit."

"I cannot enjoy life here, Rebekah, it is a pretty cage and I am not a bird. I prefer my life at Beaufort than to here, and if the court nobles do not understand that, then that is their own fault. I will not put myself through torture to appease them." He insisted, beginning away from his sister to go see the King as had been requested of him upon his arrival.

"Or is it because you're scared?" Rebekah called after him, the words echoing around the hallway and making no sense to anyone but Klaus. He paused. Rebekah had never confirmed it but he was sure that she had her suspicions about him and the Countess Salvatore's daughter, a bright, bubbly blonde child with none of the infamous Salvatore traits who had been born in a time where Rebekah knew that Klaus pined for Caroline. Klaus had had his suspicions for a year now that Rebekah suspected that her daughter was actually Klaus'.

If she didn't suspect that Elizabeth was Klaus' child, then she at least suspected that Klaus and Caroline had been intimate together. She knew that Klaus had been obsessed with the former Duchess since her arrival at court, and she must have noticed that Klaus left for Beaufort only days after Caroline delivered her first child. But out of fear that they were both wrong, neither of them would ever breathe a word of it to anyone, not even to each other.

Klaus swallowed thickly and turned back to his sister. "I will see you tomorrow, sister." He dismissed her, bowing courteously and bringing down the hallway.

* * *

The funeral went as expected, the family gathered and said kind words about their father that they were all sure weren't true. The priest read the last rites and they lowered the coffin into the ground, Esther wept the whole time and Finn let her lean on him. The rest of the family began inside as they began to fill the grave but Klaus watched until the final speck of dirt was laid on his father's grave, freeing him finally of one ghost, one demon.

Of course, Klaus had many demons. He could get rid of one and two more would come to taunt him.

He was sat in his rooms that afternoon as the cold wind blew a chill over the gardens his windows looked out of. He was on the first floor of the palace room, which gave him a bird's eye view of the maze like gardens that the Queen had deemed public. She had her own gardens elsewhere. Due to the weather, there was hardly anyone walking around the rose bushes, white roses of course for the York house, despite the fact that none of them were in bloom right now. Klaus stared at the window, and that's when he heard it.

Her voice shouting.

"Lizzie! Lizzie, you must not run off like that!" Caroline's voice hadn't changed one note; it was still the lyrical lilt that infested his dreams. He could still remember that voice begging him to take her that night. Klaus furrowed his brow and looked out into the gardens, scanning for the source of the noise to make sure that he wasn't just going mad. Caroline Salvatore was in the gardens all right, she came into Klaus' view from between two gaps in another part of the gardens where the bushes were so high that they blocked his view. She was rushing after something, but with mischief in her step, not worriment. She lifted her skirts to help herself run but it did little to conceal the small bump that her dress was protecting. Klaus then heard her speak again, standing up to get a better view as Caroline slowed and opened her arms. "Lizzie! There you are, you silly girl!" Her voice came through the wind that carried her voice to his window like some cruel trick of fate once more, followed by a childish giggle.

A small girl jumped out from behind a bush, previously undetected by Klaus' people watching in the gardens and rushed to her mother's arms with a clumsy toddler step. He swallowed thickly. That was her. His daughter was so close to him but he could not go see her, talk to her, tell her that he loved her no matter who her mother was married to. All the things Klaus had yearned to say to Caroline for years now.

When she had been pregnant and Klaus thought he could bear to stay at court with her, he would see her waddling around the halls before she went into her confinement with her hands cradling her baby bump that was carrying his heir and had to hold his tongue to stop confessions spilling out. He would see her smile secretively and touch a certain spot on her stomach, where the baby was kicking. He would find her hissing in pain as the baby wreaked havoc on her body and was unable to offer her comfort.

It had been torture for nine long months, and he had left because he couldn't imagine watching their daughter flourish in front of his eyes from the outside. Now, here she was and he was full of regret that he'd missed it. Maybe the outside was better than nothing. His little girl was rushing into her mother's arms, and she had no idea her real father was so close to her. She was wearing a silver grey dress, the colours of the Salvatore house and it was trampled with mud. "Mama, you found me!" The little girl cheered in a baby's voice that was slowly becoming a child's.

"I certainly did!" Caroline grinned. The blonde Countess had not changed like their offspring had with the years. She was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and she matched the vision from his dreams. The only thing that was different was the small rounding to her stomach which made Klaus clench his fists at the reminder that another man had touched her, that she had a husband who simply wanted her for producing sons and heirs. He did not love her, or care about her. She was a means to an end to him, but Caroline was so much more to Klaus. "What are you doing running off, angel?" She asked.

"I saw a pwetty bird. The one that come out at Christmas!" She insisted.

"Did you? Where did it go?" Caroline asked, smiling brightly at her daughter's scanning around the gardens for the Robin that she had been pursuing. The little girl pouted when she discovered that she could no longer see the bird in sight and shrugged her shoulders sadly. "I am sure that it will come back, Lizzie." She assured her daughter, stroking her daughter's blonde hair.

The Countess plucked her daughter up and hoisted her onto her hip, the little girl squealing as she flew into her mother's arms. She pawed at her mother's blonde hair that hung around her face like it always had. The wind continued to carry the conversation to Klaus' ear. "Mama, your nose is red!" Lizzie exclaimed, tapping her mother's nose which had gone red in the cold. Caroline chuckled and took her daughter's hand, squeezing it to keep her warm and

"So is yours, Lizzie!" Caroline replied with enthusiasm, tapping her own daughter's nose, bundling the girl further into her fur lined cloak to protect the girl from the chill. Klaus watched as Caroline swaddled their child and Lizzie curled into her mother's side with a smile. Lizzie then got distracted by something and demanded to be let down, which Caroline did as she rushed after the robin that had landed near some bushes. "Do not scare it off, angel." Caroline called after her daughter.

Lizzie tried to heed her mother's warning even though her excitement was bubbling up inside her little body as she approached the robin slowly and whistled best she could for a two year old. When it sang back at her, she turned and grinned at her mother proudly. Caroline stood watching her daughter and pulled her cloak closer to her body with a smile. To Klaus, the onlooker, it was a perfect scene that he'd been wishing to see for two years and he could only wish he were part of it. But it wasn't meant to be, the small bump that his ex-lover was sporting was proof of that.

A year after she had given birth to Lizzie, Rebekah had sent word that Caroline was pregnant again along with some other court gossip to disguise the letter in case anyone else read it. It was that one sentence that Klaus could remember reading, the rest was just scribbles. He remembered the way he'd instantly thrown the letter into the fire and hoped that would erase the reality that Caroline was going to give Damon a son and Lizzie would be forgotten after that. She was after all just a girl to the Salvatores, a son would be forever more important. Damon would give her what she needed; Klaus would give her what she desired as well.

A month after the letter arrived, a second letter came from his sister. Caroline had suffered a miscarriage, she had nearly died in the process. Klaus couldn't remember how he felt, glad that the only child she had given birth to was his but worried that she would face repercussions for this and Damon would only continue on his quest to impregnate her.

"Caroline, what are you doing out here?" Ah, speak of the Devil, Klaus thought to himself as the harsh voice of Damon Salvatore interrupted the mother and daughter. To Lizzie's disappointment, the robin flew off the moment Damon spoke and she turned to her mother and the man she thought was her father. Caroline turned to look at Damon and Klaus could see, even from his window, the flicker of fear on the face that she smoothed out in an instant.

"Lizzie wanted to take a walk, so I am taking her for a walk. She cannot stay inside all day, and we are both wrapped up warm enough." She assured her husband tersely. There was no love there in her tone or her expression. Klaus knew that she had never loved Damon, that she despised him and his family but he was her safety net and her support. Without him, she and her daughter faced an uncertain future. Klaus would give her everything she wanted if she asked him, but after two years, he had lost hope that she would ever utter the words. He would keep his promise and give her the world if she asked; her and their daughter would want nothing if he could just have them for his own.

"Mama, Father scared the robin off." Lizzie arrived by her mother's side, curling into her dress. The mother wrapped her cloak over the girl's body even though Lizzie was wearing her own and shushed her softly. Damon looked unpitying at Lizzie's plight; shaking his head and turning back onto his wife as she held her daughter close and put her free hand on her stomach. There was a look between the pair of them and Caroline turned to her daughter.

"Lizzie, go look at the fish in the pond for Mama, I will come over in a minute." She promised with a sweet smile to masquerade what was really happening. Lizzie nodded and gave her Father a stern look before rushing off to the ponds which were out of ear shot. Klaus stood and watched as Lizzie skipped off like a happy little rabbit and left her mother at Damon's mercy. The poor child could never understand what a tyrant the man she thought was her father was at her age. At least Klaus hoped Damon had the honour to keep his wicked temper and violence away from his child. If he ever laid a hand on Lizzie, Klaus would not hesitate to kill him, the consequences be damned.

"You should be in bed. We would not want a repeat of what happened with the last baby." Damon started tensely.

"As much as you would love to keep me locked up like some prized bird ready to roost, I am getting some fresh air and some exercise before I go into my confinement. That is good for the child." Caroline replied, turning away from her husband and crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Lizzie. "It certainly cannot be any less healthy than being pushed into a wall." She replied. Klaus froze and clenched his fist.

Damon glowered at her, and pulled her arm to face him. "What are you going to do? I am carrying your son, you cannot touch me." She hissed.

"You cannot remain pregnant forever." Damon replied.

"Not if you have anything to do with it." She retorted before walking away, rushing after Lizzie who was getting dangerously close to the pond's edge. Caroline wrapped her arms around her daughter's waist to stop her falling in and fixed her face into a bright smile again.

Klaus remembered why he had left. He couldn't control himself when he was around Caroline. Had he been here these last two years, he would have given their secret away a long time ago and Damon would have cast Caroline out into the cold along with Elizabeth. He couldn't stop himself wanting to beat Damon until he was black and blue, no matter what the King decided his punishment should be. He was weak when he was around them and he had built up walls the last two years that he could not afford to have broken.

He turned from the window at last; the last thing engraved into his mind was the image of Caroline and Lizzie by the pond. The memories stung already. He huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose as there was a knock at the door. Klaus bade them to enter and Rebekah slipped through the door a second later. Ah, just the woman he wanted to see. "I am leaving court tonight. I came for the funeral, nothing more." He announced before leaving the room to have someone get his things ready. The sooner he left court, the better.

Klaus did not see the way Rebekah curiously began to the window that hung open, meaning to shut it and keep the cold out but her eyes met the sight that had broken her brother's heart. She watched as Lizzie pointed out all the fish she could see and Caroline smiled, kissing her daughter's hair. The younger Mikaelson shook her head and sighed before shutting the window.

* * *

Klaus arrived back at Beaufort that night and instantly began to the library. It was a place that soothed him for some reason; he could almost feel her presence here sometimes. He slipped the bible off the shelf, the one he had coveted years before. Caroline would have read from this bible for her lessons, would have taken it to church with her family, she had had her name written in it upon her birth. He wasted no time in finding a quill to scribble a new name underneath hers.

_Elizabeth Mikaelson. Born 1465._

If he could not lay claim to his daughter and call her his in public, not to a soul, then he would at least claim her here. In this bible, she was Elizabeth Mikaelson, and nothing else. She was his daughter, their daughter and nobody else's. In his perfect little world that did not exist outside this library, he was free of all his ghosts and demons and he had them both where they belonged: with him.

* * *

Klaus looked down at the bible as he remembered writing that name and sighed heavily, it had been years since that night but the memories still hurt. The memory of seeing his family so close but he could not touch them. The memory of seeing the woman he loved threatened. He ran his fingers over the two names and leaned back in his chair as the library door creaked open.

"I know that look. What are you doing pouting in here?" That warm voice broke over the quiet crackle of the fire and the ever slowing patter of the storm and suddenly all was right. Klaus looked up and smiled instantly, all his sorrows and pain exorcised the moment he saw his wife walking into the library. She curiously craned her neck to see what he was looking at, the bible open on his desk and shook her head.

"What do you mean 'that look'?" He asked her curiously as she approached him, he held out his hands for her to take and his fingers brushed over the ring on her finger that told everyone she met that she was his and his alone as she always had been.

"I am married to you after all; I know every look you have." She reminded him with a smile as he squeezed her hands whilst secretly checking she was warm enough in her nightdress and her nightgown that she'd wrapped herself in at his insistence. Caroline smiled as he leaned forward to press his lips to her large rounded stomach. Caroline ran her hands through his curls and cupped his jaw, kissing the top of his head. He looked up at her and smiled at her.

"How could I forget?" He asked her softly, putting a hand on either side of her bump as she stood over him. "How are you both this evening?" He asked her, worriment lacing his voice.

Caroline smiled and smoothed her thumb over his cheekbone as the other hand sat on the side of her bump. "We are just fine as always. But are you okay? Why are you in here defacing my family bible again when you could be tucked up in a lovely, warm bed with us?" She asked with a chuckle as Klaus sat up straighter to be closer to her once more, the baby kicking against his hand.

He smiled and breathed her in. "I think I improved upon it." He replied softly.

"I cannot say I do not agree with you, even though it is tradition for the mother to write the name down, not the father. It will need defacing again soon after all." She smirked, laying a kiss on his forehead. Klaus smiled and stood up, kissing her on the lips.

"I love you." He reminded her for the millionth time.

"Even if I give you another girl?" She asked curiously, popping her eyebrows. Caroline knew that Klaus didn't care about what gender their new baby was, as he loved Lizzie more than anything and didn't treat her differently because she was a girl. Damon had disregarded Lizzie and made sure that Caroline knew what the consequences would be if any of their children that had never born had been girls. She couldn't help but feel worried that Klaus might change his mind when she didn't give him a son, despite his constant reassurances.

"Even then, all I care about is that you are both safe and healthy. You know how much I love you and Lizzie." He reminded her softly. "I am not like him." Klaus spoke softly.

"I know, I know." She assured him, pressing her lips to his as a reassurance. Klaus kissed her back and put his hands on her waist to pull her close. Their kiss lasted for a few seconds before Klaus pulled away and sighed heavily, tucking Caroline's hair behind her ear.

"You should really be resting in bed, the doctor-"

"The doctor told me I could not have children anymore, remember? If the man cannot even get that crucial piece of information right, then I doubt his credibility entirely. Besides, I was on my feet 8 hours a day when I was pregnant with Lizzie right until I gave birth and she is perfectly healthy. A little overexcited because tomorrow is Christmas but healthy none the less." She reminded her husband as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Klaus and Caroline had not intended to have any more children after Lizzie, seeing the doctor had deemed it physically impossible for her to bear a child after three miscarriages whilst married to Damon. He told them that Caroline was not as young as she was when she gave birth to Lizzie and the miscarriages would have an lasting effect on her body, perhaps it was simply not in the cards for her to have a second child. They had fun trying but it never entered their minds that they would ever have another child, and they were both okay with that.

Except one day in June, Caroline had come running to her husband's side after he'd returned from business, practically giddy with excitement and the high of knowing that they were about to have a baby. Lizzie was more than receptive to the idea of having a new sibling, always wanting to feel the baby kick and sewing new baby clothes together haphazardly.

"No matter what, you should be careful. You know I could not bear it if something happened to either of you." Klaus told her as she stepped away from his grip and smoothed hand over her bump, smiling gently at her husband. He smiled back as he closed the bible and put it aside.

"We are both going to be safe and sound because we have you to look after us. We are not going anywhere, Nik." She smiled down at him, the fire light illuminating her hair and making her look like an angel. She was an angel to him. The moment faded anyway and he stood closer to her, her hands cupping his face once more. Klaus smiled and pressed his lips to hers once sweetly. "But the three of us should get to bed, you need to get some sleep; Lizzie will be waking us at the crack of dawn after all." Caroline added softly with a chuckle.

"All right, all right. If only to get you back to bed where you should be resting." He groaned, taking her hand and leading her out of the library to the bed that they had shared for two years now. She let him lead her away, pausing only to check on their 8 year old who was sleeping away soundly in her own room. They paused at the door to their bedroom and he kissed her once more, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Merry Christmas, Caroline." He smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Nik." She smiled back against his lips.


End file.
